Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Farmers Trust Co.

Farmers Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,902 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. NTV Asset Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 12,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $129.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $328.48 billion, a PE ratio of 144.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $128.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.07.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.