Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 1.4% After Dividend Announcement

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $98.84 and last traded at $97.90. Approximately 1,778,718 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 8,920,827 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.54.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9 %

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 fifty day moving average price is $107.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.24. The stock has a market cap of $246.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.