Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Sells 21,807 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 95,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,807 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $85.55 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.49. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $216.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.