Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Reduced by Riverstone Advisors LLC

Riverstone Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $125.48. 2,288,080 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,329,354. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 901.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.