Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC

Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,166 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, 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. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.78. The company had a trading volume of 8,377,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,316,745. The stock has a market cap of $318.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 898.43, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month 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 simple moving average is $126.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRK. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 note on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.