McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by on Mar 20th, 2023

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 224,134,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,302,459,000 after buying an additional 3,081,402 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,079,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,468,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077,042 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,949,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,730,513,000 after purchasing an additional 214,082 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,349,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,037,608,000 after purchasing an additional 7,816,470 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,026,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,552,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,555. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,555. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,134.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,245 shares of company stock valued at $11,168,256. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $127.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Cowen upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $108.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Atlantic Securities raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 3.0 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $104.10 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $108.19 and a 200-day moving average of $102.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.63 and a twelve month high of $115.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 43.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 51.14%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

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