GoalVest Advisory LLC Has $1.54 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,659 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.5% of GoalVest Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $129.79 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.27 and a 200-day moving average of $123.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a PE ratio of 144.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 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 the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.