Mirabaud & Cie SA Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mirabaud & Cie SA lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 59.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,059 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,470 shares during the quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $99.95 and its 200 day moving average is $109.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.