New England Professional Planning Group Inc. Acquires New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

New England Professional Planning Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the first quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 38,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,034,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.2% during the first quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 31,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after acquiring an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.6% during the first quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 243,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,168,000 after acquiring an additional 25,430 shares during the period. Finally, Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the first quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Societe Generale lowered 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,836,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,060,609. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $335.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.30, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.90.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.