Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 495,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,817 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.7% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $56,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 116,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,244,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,778.4% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 613,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,659,000 after acquiring an additional 597,596 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,858,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,609,000 after purchasing an additional 112,549 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1 %

MRK opened at $97.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is 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 currently 64.57%.

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.