Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Cut by Advisory Resource Group

Posted by on Apr 11th, 2023

Advisory Resource Group lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,722 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.8% of Advisory Resource Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $19,302,459,000 after acquiring an additional 3,081,402 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,079,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,468,037,000 after buying an additional 1,077,042 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 12,162,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,461,000 after buying an additional 265,432 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.3% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,760,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,866,000 after buying an additional 1,441,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,786,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.25, for a total transaction of $462,453.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,159,575. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.25, for a total value of $462,453.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,159,575. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total value of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,134.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,251 shares of company stock worth $1,736,570 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cowen upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $108.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, March 17th. SVB Leerink lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MRK opened at $112.61 on Tuesday. 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. has a 1-year low of $83.05 and a 1-year high of $115.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.72. The company has a market capitalization of $285.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $13.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 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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