Chemung Canal Trust Co. Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,175 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 16,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 8,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 21,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,142,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $122,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 11,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.