First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Sells 150 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,010 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.9% of First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,363,385,000 after purchasing an additional 39,289,404 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,736,293,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in 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 worth $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,671.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,099,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,400,000 after acquiring an additional 4,915,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 184.5% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,254,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $837,144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,705,004 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 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 the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.51. 2,423,355 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,236,472. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.84. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $317.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 894.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

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 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.