Hantz Financial Services Inc. Sells 6,731 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,731 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,410,000 after purchasing an additional 13,910 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 619,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,330,000 after purchasing an additional 26,836 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 112,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,736,000 after purchasing an additional 11,031 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,184,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,488,000 after purchasing an additional 385,770 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $103.12 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.15. The company has a market capitalization of $260.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.