Washington Trust Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Washington Trust Bank increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 136,546 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,428 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.3% of Washington Trust Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $88,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $429,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 98,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,816,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $1,336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $93.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.18. The company has a market cap of $236.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.