Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC

Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,002 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Ossiam boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 118.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 215,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,912,000 after acquiring an additional 117,002 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.71.

Insider Activity

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $131.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $334.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 942.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,200.00%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.