Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.7% of Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 77.2% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,328,000 after acquiring an additional 22,546 shares during the period. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the third quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.1% in the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,025,000 after buying an additional 5,795 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 102,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,639,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Finally, Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the third quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $4.34 on Monday, reaching $128.14. 6,359,411 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,524,498. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $129.32 and its 200-day moving average is $124.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.55 billion, a PE ratio of 142.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm 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 2.40%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Truist Financial upped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.