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

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,138 shares of the company’s stock after selling 566 shares during the quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Cross Staff Investments Inc grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.3 %

MRK stock traded up $4.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $127.90. The company had a trading volume of 11,528,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,565,867. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $323.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.