Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Perigon Wealth Management LLC

Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 38.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,990 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 44,738 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $17,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,683,000 after buying an additional 169,536 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,064,000 after buying an additional 9,376 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,964,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $142.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.64.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $126.13. 6,187,325 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,462,223. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $126.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.44 billion, a PE ratio of 905.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,200.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction 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. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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