Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Sells 1,833 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,419 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,833 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.7% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $103.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $260.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $106.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.24.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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 under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.