Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Sells 340 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.5% of Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 48,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,386,000 after acquiring an additional 7,445 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 25,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 21,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,133.6% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 273,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,144,000 after buying an additional 261,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $125.85 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.77 dividend. 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 is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of 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. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.