Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Has $11.36 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,492 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,181 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.6% of Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 41,850,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,643,267,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,816 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,363,385,000 after purchasing an additional 39,289,404 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,705 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $125.89. 3,227,922 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,247,245. The company has a market cap of $318.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 894.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $126.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.84. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. 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. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.