Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.80 and a 200 day moving average of $108.81. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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. Company 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.