Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by IMS Capital Management

IMS Capital Management cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,540 shares of the company’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 3,763,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,877,000 after acquiring an additional 17,797 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 22,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,728,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.2% in the second quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 4,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 8,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $113.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.46 and a 200-day moving average of $123.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.63 billion, a PE ratio of 126.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

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.