Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC

Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,802 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $130.72 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $331.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.24, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.37.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average 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.