Cadence Bank Sells 182 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cadence Bank reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,260 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.62 on Wednesday. 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. 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 $106.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 64.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.