Lane & Associates LLC Has $405,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lane & Associates LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,066 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,363 shares during the quarter. Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $132.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $336.81 billion, a PE ratio of 147.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $128.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.70. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

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.