Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Cut by Mirabaud & Cie SA

Mirabaud & Cie SA lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 59.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,059 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,470 shares during the quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.02. 6,150,794 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,933,773. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.91 and a 200-day moving average of $109.20. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. 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.