Riverstone Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Riverstone Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kennedy Investment Group increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $599,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,288,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,329,354. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $317.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 901.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $126.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.53. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

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.