Zullo Investment Group Inc. Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,421 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 100,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 7,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Geometric Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 8,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $131.95. 10,189,650 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,400,490. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $334.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 942.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $124.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,200.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.