First National Corp MA ADV Has $1.37 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First National Corp MA ADV raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,537 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth 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 period. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $388,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 5,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. King Wealth boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. King Wealth now owns 7,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, LifePro Asset Management boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $133.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $337.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 941.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $124.21 and its 200-day moving average is $112.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.50.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.