OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 772 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

MRK traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $128.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,147,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,368,725. The company has a market capitalization of $324.88 billion, a PE ratio of 143.44, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38. 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 twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective 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, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

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.