Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Sells 771 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,661 shares of the company’s stock after selling 771 shares during the quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $6.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $123.80. 57,055,458 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,215,418. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.56 billion, a PE ratio of 137.56, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $129.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.27.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.