Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,110 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,873 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 76,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,079,000 after acquiring an additional 53,748 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,594,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.25 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $253.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $107.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

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.