Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by on Apr 3rd, 2023

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,863 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,589 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 224,134,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,302,459,000 after acquiring an additional 3,081,402 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,079,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,468,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077,042 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% during 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 in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 12,162,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,047,461,000 after purchasing an additional 265,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,760,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441,584 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,555. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 1,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.10, for a total transaction of $198,016.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,609,573.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $3,312,555. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,245 shares of company stock valued at $11,168,256 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Bank of America raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $110.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. SVB Leerink lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

MRK opened at $106.39 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $107.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.68. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.74 and a twelve month high of $115.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 43.47%. The firm had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 51.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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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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