Ballast Inc. Sells 193 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ballast Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $98.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.