American National Bank Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

American National Bank grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,927 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the quarter. American National Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,134.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,134.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total value of $9,431,686.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,555. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,245 shares of company stock worth $11,168,256. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $106.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of MRK opened at $104.10 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.63 and a 52-week high of $115.49. The company has a market capitalization of $264.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.47% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.14%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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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.