Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 447 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,433 shares of the company’s stock after selling 447 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chiron Investment Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 219.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC now owns 107,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,052,000 after acquiring an additional 73,700 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,428,000. Glenview Trust co grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the third quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 319,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,851,000 after purchasing an additional 7,604 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the third quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 23,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $127.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $324.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.21, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.