Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Decreased by Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC

Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,054 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 59,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,836,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 7,070,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,924,000 after purchasing an additional 296,092 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 15,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 20,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 3,045 shares during the period. Finally, CAP Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 2,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $125.85 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.70. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.