Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Criterion Capital Advisors LLC

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 562 shares of the company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $6.02 on Friday, hitting $123.80. The company had a trading volume of 57,055,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,215,418. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.32 and a 200 day moving average of $124.13. The company has a market cap of $313.56 billion, a PE ratio of 137.56, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39.

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 return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.