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

DMC Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,439 shares of the company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.6% of DMC Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. DMC Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 12,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,756,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Shakespeare Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,909,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,517,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,229,000 after acquiring an additional 10,763 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

MRK opened at $125.85 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.71. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.