FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 3,447 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,688 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,447 shares during the period. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $125.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,002,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,312,443. The stock has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a PE ratio of 139.83, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

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.