Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Boosted by IVC Wealth Advisors LLC

IVC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,760 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.7% of IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $1.87 on Wednesday, reaching $125.85. 4,002,052 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,506,954. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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 firm has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.70.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.