Heartland Bank & Trust Co Sells 653 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 653 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MRK shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $97.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $99.80 and a 200 day moving average of $108.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.