State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 35,975 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 429,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,975 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.6% of State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $56,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.85. 4,002,052 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,506,954. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.70. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.96, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.