Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 122,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,133 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. McAdam LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 18,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Jacobsen Capital Management increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 103,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,290,000 after buying an additional 1,973 shares during the period. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 7,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5,303.0% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 39,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,977,000 after buying an additional 39,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $98.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $249.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $99.83 and a 200-day moving average of $107.67. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.