Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Sells 115 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% during the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 169,536 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,064,000 after acquiring an additional 9,376 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,964,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $131.61. The company had a trading volume of 4,548,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,711,833. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 941.64, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $124.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio 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.