Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC Sells 14,254 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 80.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,556 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,254 shares during the quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 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 fourth quarter valued at $2,736,293,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $418,400,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,705,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE MRK traded down $0.44 on Wednesday, hitting $129.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,740,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,702,423. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average is $125.45 and its 200 day moving average is $113.20. The firm has a market cap of $329.02 billion, a PE ratio of 929.50, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,200.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $142.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.71.

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.

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