Sunburst Financial Group LLC Lowers Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sunburst Financial Group LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 36.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,874 shares during the quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,669,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 13,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 22,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $84.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $213.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.65.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.