Aspire Private Capital LLC Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,879 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 7,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Key Bridge Compliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $374,000. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 15,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $126.94. The company had a trading volume of 7,787,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,310,124. The company has a market capitalization of $321.54 billion, a PE ratio of 898.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price target (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

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.