One Day In July LLC Sells 1,057 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

One Day In July LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,587 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,057 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 23,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,384,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,731,000 after acquiring an additional 478,464 shares during the period. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 80,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,992,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the period. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $739,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $87.64 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.