Signet Financial Management LLC Has $1.10 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Signet Financial Management LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,099 shares of the company’s stock after selling 293 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 9,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $125.06 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $316.78 billion, a PE ratio of 893.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.69.

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 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 business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,200.00%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.