Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,158 shares of the company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wahed Invest LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 43,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $746,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10,796.5% during the fourth quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 40,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,467,000 after acquiring an additional 40,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 35,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after buying an additional 16,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $127.52 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $128.63 and a 200 day moving average of $122.82. 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 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.