Avior Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock after selling 970 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 10,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,282,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,797,000 after purchasing an additional 50,423 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,604,000 after purchasing an additional 20,700 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 76,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,367,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $125.18 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 894.14, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $126.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.84.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

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.