Saxon Interests Inc. Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Saxon Interests Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,449,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.1% in the third quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $131.92. 10,188,693 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,807,398. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $334.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 942.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 2,200.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s 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 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. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.71.

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.