True Wealth Design LLC Sells 1,241 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

True Wealth Design LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,241 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $34,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.8% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 35,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,000 after buying an additional 10,179 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 11,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 6,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,178,000 after purchasing an additional 12,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Somerset Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the second quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 6,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $101.64 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $257.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

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.