FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 649 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $127.72 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.91, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. 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 $129.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.55.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale downgraded 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. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.