RIA Advisory Group LLC Purchases Shares of 274 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% during the fourth 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $2,736,293,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,671.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,099,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,400,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 184.5% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,254,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $837,144,000 after purchasing an additional 4,705,004 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MRK opened at $125.78 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $126.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $318.60 billion, a PE ratio of 898.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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 report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.