Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Cadinha & Co. LLC

Cadinha & Co. LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 85.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 129,532 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after acquiring an additional 34,715 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.