Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Has $281,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $95.54 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.02. The company has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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, 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.