Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Trimmed by CFO4Life Group LLC

CFO4Life Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,633 shares of the company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

MRK stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $128.09. 2,686,672 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,372,781. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $324.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company 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 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.