Close Asset Management Ltd Has $611,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 9th, 2023

Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,508 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Capital Advantage Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. now owns 14,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 3,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 72.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the firm’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 value of $9,431,686.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,312,555. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,312,555. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,134.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,245 shares of company stock worth $11,168,256 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $112.33 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.05 and a fifty-two week high of $115.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $107.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $285.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.47% and a net margin of 24.49%. The business had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.80 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 EPS 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 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. SVB Leerink upped their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.35.

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.