Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.

Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 613 shares during the quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% during the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 169,536 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,064,000 after acquiring an additional 9,376 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.06. 5,587,332 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,405,260. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $316.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 893.29, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $126.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.69.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.