Apella Capital LLC Has $707,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Apella Capital LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 36.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,374 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 169,536 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,064,000 after buying an additional 9,376 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $104.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.63 and a twelve month high of $115.49. The firm has a market cap of $264.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $127.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $106.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.35.

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.