Jacobs & Co. CA Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 106,323 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 5,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. King Wealth now owns 7,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 7,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $131.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.39. The stock has a market cap of $333.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 941.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.