Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,568 shares of the company’s stock after selling 780 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $127.99 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $324.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.