First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 15,566 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 163,499 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,566 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callan Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 15,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares during the period. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 25,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Element Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 14,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE MRK opened at $89.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.46 and a 200-day moving average of $104.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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.