Northwest Bancshares Inc. Sells 5,561 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,328 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,561 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.1% of Northwest Bancshares Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Northwest Bancshares Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company's stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company's stock worth $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company's stock worth $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9 %

MRK traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.38. 4,914,301 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,934,763. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $108.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

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.