St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC Sells 113 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.8% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,341,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,024,000 after acquiring an additional 36,514 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.1% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 28,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after buying an additional 4,507 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.8% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 12,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 2,837 shares during the last quarter. Humankind Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% in the third quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 22,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.1% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 938,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,666,000 after acquiring an additional 157,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $130.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $330.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.07, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $128.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.