Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Financial Perspectives Inc

Financial Perspectives Inc trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 20.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 326 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the first quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the first quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,486,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 48,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,386,000 after buying an additional 7,445 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.7% in the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 25,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $125.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,002,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,312,443. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.71.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.