Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 113,798 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 740,633 shares of the company’s stock after selling 113,798 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $73,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.81. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.