Verum Partners LLC Acquires 416 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Verum Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,464 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the quarter. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $457,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $127.72. 5,644,609 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,542,705. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.91, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.