Ballew Advisors Inc Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ballew Advisors Inc lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $358,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the second quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 5,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. King Wealth now owns 7,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 7,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $131.92. The company had a trading volume of 10,188,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,807,398. The firm has a market cap of $334.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 942.29, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.48 and a 200-day moving average of $112.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.