Stableford Capital II LLC Sells 1,462 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stableford Capital II LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,462 shares during the quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Abundance Wealth Counselors increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 4,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 41,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 8,564 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Dohj LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $794,000. Finally, Marietta Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.