Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Down 0.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price fell 0.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $116.47 and last traded at $117.00. 2,711,410 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 8,643,212 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $296.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.00, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,026,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $479,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 29,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.