Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Has $10.73 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,426 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 0.9% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4 %

MRK traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $127.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,415,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,238,735. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 898.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.18. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.