Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Strategy Asset Managers LLC

Strategy Asset Managers LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,053 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 88.3% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 64,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,548,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,975,000 after buying an additional 6,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $244.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given 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 3.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.