Traynor Capital Management Inc. Sells 282 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,263 shares of the company’s stock after selling 282 shares during the quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,234,000. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 56,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,179,000 after buying an additional 8,235 shares during the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,449,000. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $131.92. 10,188,693 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,807,398. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.11 billion, a PE ratio of 942.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $124.48 and its 200 day moving average is $112.52. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.