Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Lowered by Bowman & Co S.C.

Bowman & Co S.C. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 560 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.6% of Bowman & Co S.C.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Bowman & Co S.C.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $454,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 26,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 86,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,938,000 after acquiring an additional 5,421 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.2% in the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 4,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 211.0% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 118,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,223,000 after acquiring an additional 80,547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $129.79 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.21, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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