Trilogy Capital Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Trilogy Capital Inc. decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,169 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,868 shares during the quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 73,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,380,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $108,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 5,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.9 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $87.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.00. The company has a market cap of $222.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.33 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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

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.