Cwm LLC Acquires 600 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 516,232 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.8% of Cwm LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $68,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $127.99 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. 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 $324.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.21, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid 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 yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial boosted 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. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

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.