Atticus Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 68,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,587,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 2,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 310,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,400,000 after purchasing an additional 26,554 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 430,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.89% of the company’s stock.
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %
Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $115.31 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.05 and a fifty-two week high of $116.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.34. 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. Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 51.14%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,134.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 1,815 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.10, for a total value of $198,016.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,609,573.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 have sold 150,306 shares of company stock valued at $17,162,278 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, SVB Leerink raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned 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 target price of $120.65.
About Merck & Co., Inc.
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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