OneAscent Financial Services LLC Purchases 584 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,671 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $123.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.27. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $313.56 billion, a PE ratio of 137.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors 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 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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, the company presently has a consensus 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.