Legacy Private Trust Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Legacy Private Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,535 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $130.56 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company has a market capitalization of $330.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $128.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.