Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.

SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,572 shares of the company’s stock after selling 994 shares during the quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,696,060,000 after buying an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after acquiring an additional 309,656 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.26 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.12 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $99.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.