Abundance Wealth Counselors Sells 703 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Abundance Wealth Counselors cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,927 shares of the company’s stock after selling 703 shares during the quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,566,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,071,000 after purchasing an additional 228,578 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $125.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.71. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on 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. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded 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 issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.