Cacti Asset Management LLC Sells 1,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cacti Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 644,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 4.9% of Cacti Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Cacti Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $63,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $99.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,571,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,339,234. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $100.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $252.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders 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 is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.