Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Decreased by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 42.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,815 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,880 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after purchasing an additional 39,289,404 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $2,736,293,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,671.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,099,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,400,000 after buying an additional 4,915,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 184.5% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,254,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $837,144,000 after buying an additional 4,705,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, 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 value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3 %

MRK opened at $125.74 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.38. 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 market cap of $318.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 898.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,200.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

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.