Portside Wealth Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Portside Wealth Group LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,062 shares of the company’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $1,207,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 199,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,739,000 after buying an additional 7,641 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,584,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,127,000 after purchasing an additional 28,185 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,775,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,784,000 after acquiring an additional 61,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.01 and a 200 day moving average of $109.85. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.