Michael S. Ryan Inc. Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Michael S. Ryan Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.5% of Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. General Partner Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.1% during the first quarter. General Partner Inc. now owns 8,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $6,830,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $11,303,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $148,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $127.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $324.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 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 $133.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.