Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 412,556 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,406 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 0.5% of Xponance Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $44,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 41,850,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,643,267,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,816 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after acquiring an additional 39,289,404 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,842 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $125.23. The company had a trading volume of 5,984,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,277,996. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.20 and a 200-day moving average of $114.76. The firm has a market cap of $317.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 891.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.