Eastern Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Eastern Bank cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MRK. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.60.

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

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MRK traded down $1.45 on Monday, hitting $126.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,937,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,554,801. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 914.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

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.