State of Alaska Department of Revenue Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 465,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,095 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.6% of State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $50,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% during the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after buying an additional 169,536 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the first 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 during the period. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the first 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 during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MRK traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.95. The stock had a trading volume of 10,189,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,400,490. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.66. The firm has a market cap of $334.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 942.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,200.00%.

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.