Vigilare Wealth Management Has $703,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Vigilare Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,066 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,106 shares during the quarter. Vigilare Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $100.94 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.