Chemung Canal Trust Co. Sells 30,175 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,175 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610,800 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $99.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.