High Falls Advisors Inc Sells 185 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

High Falls Advisors Inc reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Maia Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $454,000. QV Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the second quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 40,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27,873.3% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Bremer Bank National Association raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 251.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bremer Bank National Association now owns 38,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,773,000 after purchasing an additional 27,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 5,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $103.79 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $104.11 and its 200 day moving average is $115.56. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $262.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.