Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 3,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 169,536 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,064,000 after purchasing an additional 9,376 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $126.13. The stock had a trading volume of 6,187,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,462,223. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $126.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.02. The company has a market capitalization of $319.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 900.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.