Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Purchases 3,131 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 36.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,811 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,131 shares during the quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 19,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 18,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $27,203,000. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 100,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,960,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $252,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

MRK stock opened at $98.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.