Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 10,639 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 928,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,639 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $101,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Curran Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 18,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 7,232 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 122,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 320,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,994,000 after buying an additional 17,468 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $125.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $317.08 billion, a PE ratio of 894.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.