Norris Perne & French LLP MI Acquires 548 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 203,716 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.9% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $26,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $123.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.56 billion, a PE ratio of 137.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.