New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 300,171 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,096,671 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300,171 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.6% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $446,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $126.94. The stock had a trading volume of 7,787,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,310,124. The firm has a market cap of $321.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 906.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.21 and a 200 day moving average of $115.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 2.43%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company 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.