Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. Sells 460 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,636 shares of the company’s stock after selling 460 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.4% of Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

MRK stock opened at $98.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $250.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

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.