Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,438,000. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.9% of Trueblood Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% during the third quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% in the third quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,922,000 after buying an additional 15,529 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Ossiam boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 118.3% in the second quarter. Ossiam now owns 215,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,912,000 after buying an additional 117,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 5.0 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $6.23 on Wednesday, hitting $131.75. The stock had a trading volume of 15,841,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,783,678. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $333.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 941.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.50.

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.