Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Cetera Advisor Networks LLC

Cetera Advisor Networks LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 399,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,589 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $43,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. 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 report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $129.44. The company had a trading volume of 5,009,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,103,171. The company has a market capitalization of $327.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $128.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.08. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.