Hengehold Capital Management LLC Sells 907 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 38,762 shares of the company’s stock after selling 907 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731,152 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,814,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,211 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE MRK traded down $1.71 during trading on Thursday, hitting $129.79. The stock had a trading volume of 11,923,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,147,509. The company has a market capitalization of $328.73 billion, a PE ratio of 144.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.