Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 1.4% After Dividend Announcement

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price was up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $98.84 and last traded at $97.90. Approximately 1,778,718 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 8,920,827 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.54.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $247.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.