Investment Advisory Group LLC Sells 276 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Investment Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,063 shares of the company’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% during the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays raised 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, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of 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, four have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.62. 1,773,585 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,323,968. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 901.36, a PEG ratio of 0.50 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 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month 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 the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.