Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by on Jul 9th, 2023

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,848 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% in the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 1,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,698,000 after buying an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. DMC Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 14,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,619,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC now owns 11,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pegasus Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,714,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 76.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $128.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. BTIG Research lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Sunday, April 16th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $109.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $276.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.35. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.23 and a 200-day moving average of $110.86. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.52 and a 52 week high of $119.65.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $14.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.81 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.92% and a net margin of 22.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.03%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

(Free Report)

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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