Westside Investment Management Inc. Sells 185 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Westside Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,012 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of 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. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to 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. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $125.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a PE ratio of 139.83, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $129.33 and its 200 day moving average is $124.71. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

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.