Private Client Services LLC Has $282,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Private Client Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 37.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,833 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $99.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,050,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,609,207. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $252.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase 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.