Prosperitas Financial LLC Sells 410 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Prosperitas Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Prosperitas Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.55. 1,359,702 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,317,477. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $318.02 billion, a PE ratio of 901.36, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

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.