Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by McAdam LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 10th, 2023

McAdam LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 42.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,275 shares during the quarter. McAdam LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $387,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,701,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 192,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,394,000 after buying an additional 16,726 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 10,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 5,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $106.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $112.33 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.05 and a 12 month high of $115.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $13.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 51.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.00, for a total value of $535,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,734,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,251 shares of company stock worth $1,736,570. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.