Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 572 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $2,080,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,761,000 after acquiring an additional 422,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.18 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $225.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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.