Ellsworth Advisors LLC Has $1.09 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 82.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,004 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 199,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,739,000 after purchasing an additional 7,641 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 788.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 176,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,894,000 after acquiring an additional 156,935 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 112,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,873,000 after acquiring an additional 8,269 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 9,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 521,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,581,000 after purchasing an additional 34,574 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $98.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.72. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

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.