Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 543 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Thursday, hitting $124.83. 2,467,696 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,267,888. The stock has a market cap of $316.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 891.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.76.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,200.00%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.