Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading 0.4% Higher

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $112.22 and last traded at $111.63. 1,310,856 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 8,663,999 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.46. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $282.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC now owns 17,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,926,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $2,360,000. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 37,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,119,000 after buying an additional 13,281 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 191.8% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 169,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,537,000 after acquiring an additional 111,706 shares during the period. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 4,058 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.