Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Reduced by Trueblood Wealth Management LLC

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 35.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,643 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,849 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 199,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,739,000 after buying an additional 7,641 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 788.1% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 176,849 shares of the company's stock worth $21,894,000 after purchasing an additional 156,935 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 112,056 shares of the company's stock worth $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 8,269 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 9,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 521,653 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,581,000 after buying an additional 34,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $2.70 during trading on Monday, reaching $98.00. 15,879,862 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 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 $100.01 and a 200-day moving average of $109.61. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $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 firm 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 represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. 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 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.