Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Trimmed by Plimoth Trust Co. LLC

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.6% of Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Societe Generale lowered 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 research note on Monday, March 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MRK opened at $125.85 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.70. 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 capitalization of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. 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 released 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. 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.