Cambridge Trust Co. Has $25.70 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cambridge Trust Co. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,718 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $25,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $599,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% in the third quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,922,000 after buying an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Price Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $124.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,467,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,267,888. The company has a market capitalization of $316.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 891.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $126.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.76. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research 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 research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.25.

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.