Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by tru Independence LLC

tru Independence LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 51,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,249 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 2.0% of tru Independence LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. tru Independence LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $127.72 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.55. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $323.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. 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 business earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.