Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Bank & Trust Co

Bank & Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,289 shares of the company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.3% of Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Chris Bulman Inc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 233.3% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 549,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,012,000 after purchasing an additional 384,605 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $354,000. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 8,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.1 %

MRK traded up $2.05 on Tuesday, hitting $101.77. 4,284,233 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,583,325. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $257.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.