Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Trust Co of the South

Trust Co of the South lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 394 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.5% of Trust Co of the South’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 217,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,946,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 19,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,452 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 28,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% in the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 13,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $98.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,011,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,339,234. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.19. The company has a market capitalization of $250.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

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.