Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Bank grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 9,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $125.78. 3,093,104 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,341,180. 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 has a market capitalization of $318.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 901.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $126.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.53. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. 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.