Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Phoenix Wealth Advisors

Phoenix Wealth Advisors cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,302 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.2% of Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $599,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $1.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,587,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,405,260. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $126.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $316.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 893.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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.