Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 24th, 2023

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 208,091 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,191 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.6% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Veracity Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 4,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Coco Enterprises LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Coco Enterprises LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advantage Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. now owns 14,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Rita A. Karachun sold 15,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 45,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,372,296.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Rita A. Karachun sold 15,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 45,710 shares in the company, valued at $5,372,296.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 53,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,770,831.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 488,258 shares of company stock valued at $56,481,018 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Citigroup upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $105.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Atlantic Securities raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $128.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8 %

MRK stock opened at $114.60 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.52 and a 1-year high of $119.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $113.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 57.03%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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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.