WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 810 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 810 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.1% in the third quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $131.80. The company had a trading volume of 4,117,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,703,279. The firm has a market cap of $333.80 billion, a PE ratio of 941.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $124.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.