Tompkins Financial Corp Has $9.96 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tompkins Financial Corp grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,120 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $252,000. Woodstock Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 125,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,490,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 64,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,461,000 after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 4,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 50,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,995,000 after acquiring an additional 14,161 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Leerink Partners cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.