Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 184 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,829 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kennedy Investment Group increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $599,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

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

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on 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 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. 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 down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,288,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,329,354. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company has a market capitalization of $317.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 901.36, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $126.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.53.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

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.