Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Decreased by CapWealth Advisors LLC

CapWealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,561 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 3.3% of CapWealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $29,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $4,949,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 492,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,044,000 after acquiring an additional 45,350 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $1.09 on Wednesday, reaching $127.13. The stock had a trading volume of 643,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,396,154. The company has a 50-day moving average of $128.99 and a 200 day moving average of $125.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $322.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.