Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading 0.1% Higher

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $116.26 and last traded at $115.79. Approximately 1,516,383 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 8,694,215 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,026,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 692,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,545,000 after buying an additional 15,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 208,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,699,000 after buying an additional 65,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.