Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC

Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,372,000 after acquiring an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,102,135,000 after acquiring an additional 56,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $275.32 billion, a PE ratio of 120.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $114.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.