BOS Asset Management LLC Sells 308 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BOS Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. BOS Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Truist Financial lifted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 research report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.76. The stock had a trading volume of 7,022,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,720,213. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $323.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.96, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.