Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 38,115 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,359 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,115 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,922,000 after purchasing an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $15,818,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.99. The company had a trading volume of 5,673,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,458,428. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $125.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 914.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

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.