Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 1,449 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by on Jun 23rd, 2023

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,449 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the first quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 22,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the first quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.6% during the first quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the period. Finally, Orser Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $990,000. Institutional investors own 76.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Atlantic Securities raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $128.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.75.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 53,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $6,355,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,685 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,831.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 53,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $6,355,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,685 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,831.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Rita A. Karachun sold 15,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,788.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,372,296.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 488,258 shares of company stock worth $56,481,018 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $113.72 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.52 and a 12 month high of $119.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $288.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $14.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.81 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 22.52% and a return on equity of 37.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.03%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

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