Garner Asset Management Corp Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Garner Asset Management Corp decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,380 shares of the company’s stock after selling 299 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,363,385,000 after acquiring an additional 39,289,404 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $2,736,293,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 72.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,314,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,919,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,051,945 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 35,734,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,801,839,000 after acquiring an additional 8,281,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 68,563,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,294,504,000 after acquiring an additional 6,546,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $123.00 target price for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total value of $474,705.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,867,745.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $108.59 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $84.52 and a one year high of $119.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.01, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.18) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The business had revenue of $15.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 239.34%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.