WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 810 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 34,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 810 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $56,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price target (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.0 %

MRK traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $131.80. 4,117,960 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,703,279. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 941.64, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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. 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.