First Hawaiian Bank Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Hawaiian Bank reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,488 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,408 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 519,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,689,000 after buying an additional 16,392 shares in the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $891,000. Sterneck Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $99.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.