Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO

Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after buying an additional 39,289,404 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $2,736,293,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,671.4% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,099,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,400,000 after buying an additional 4,915,334 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 184.5% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,254,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $837,144,000 after buying an additional 4,705,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3 %

MRK traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $129.90. 7,740,844 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,702,423. The company has a market cap of $328.99 billion, a PE ratio of 929.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.