Gratus Capital LLC Sells 436 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 9th, 2023

Gratus Capital LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 436 shares during the period. Gratus Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 6,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 20,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,000. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 8,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $106.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, March 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $127.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Finally, Cowen increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $108.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $112.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.43 and a 200-day moving average of $104.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.05 and a 12 month high of $115.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 43.47%. The business’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 company posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm 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. 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 payout ratio is 51.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 sale, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total value of $9,431,686.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,555. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 1,815 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.10, for a total value of $198,016.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,609,573.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,245 shares of company stock worth $11,168,256. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.