SL Advisors LLC Sells 142 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SL Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,105 shares of the company’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. SL Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Sterneck Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Norway Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 161,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,112,000 after buying an additional 6,691 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MRK traded down $1.41 on Wednesday, hitting $99.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,477,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,497,563. The firm has a market cap of $251.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $100.39 and its 200 day moving average is $111.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.