Viking Fund Management LLC Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Viking Fund Management LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 73,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.7% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $454,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 26,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 86,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,938,000 after acquiring an additional 5,421 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.2% in the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 4,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 211.0% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 118,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,223,000 after purchasing an additional 80,547 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $129.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.27 and its 200 day moving average is $123.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. 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 company has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.21, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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, Societe Generale lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.