Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 50,673 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fred Alger Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,626 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,673 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,941,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 73,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,068,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 35,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,000 after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 7,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $101.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.54 and a 200-day moving average of $116.87. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.