Collective Family Office LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Collective Family Office LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Collective Family Office LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $129.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.10, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. 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 research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average 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.