Park Place Capital Corp Sells 2,339 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Park Place Capital Corp decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 31.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,163 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,339 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $95.72 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.20. 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. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $242.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 3.38%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa America cut 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 set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

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.