First Pacific Financial Has $1.04 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Pacific Financial cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,569 shares of the company’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after acquiring an additional 39,289,404 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,736,293,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,671.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,099,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,400,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 184.5% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,254,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $837,144,000 after buying an additional 4,705,004 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following 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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of MRK opened at $131.75 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $333.68 billion, a PE ratio of 941.07, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. UBS Group increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.50.

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.