Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,956 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,018 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 12,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $12,087,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.4% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 4,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 90,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,298,000 after acquiring an additional 9,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $2,427,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $128.97. The company had a trading volume of 7,037,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,415,744. The company has a market cap of $326.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.40. 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. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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.