Waldron Private Wealth LLC Sells 720 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 720 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Everett Harris & Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 199,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,823,000 after buying an additional 14,282 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $988,000. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $98.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $99.83 and a 200 day moving average of $108.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $249.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Leerink Partners cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.