Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,112 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $130.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The company has a market capitalization of $331.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid 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 2.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Monday, March 4th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.