Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 3,694 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 242,720 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,694 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $24,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company's stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,649,000 after buying an additional 62,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company's stock worth $125,204,000 after buying an additional 34,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $1.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $96.18. 17,752,668 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,263,390. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.