Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Lynch & Associates IN

Lynch & Associates IN trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,594 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,107 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.0% of Lynch & Associates IN’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of MRK traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $99.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,327,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,561,656. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $251.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

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.