New Century Financial Group LLC Sells 3,108 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

New Century Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,833 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,108 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company's stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company's stock worth $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.09 on Friday, hitting $95.54. 12,242,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,666,592. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.02. The firm has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.