Sterling Investment Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sterling Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.1% in the third quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $56,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, 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 corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $131.75 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $124.21 and a 200 day moving average price 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 company has a market capitalization of $333.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 941.07, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

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.