Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by West Coast Financial LLC

West Coast Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 496 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $132.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $336.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.90. 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 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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 previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.