Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,213 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.9% of Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 30,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 6,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.5% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 4,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emprise Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $1,403,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $129.69 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $328.48 billion, a PE ratio of 144.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $128.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Societe Generale downgraded 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently 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.