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

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,222 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,524 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank upped 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 note on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 9.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $12.57 on Tuesday, hitting $115.21. 35,503,592 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,485,705. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $291.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.01, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $127.75 and its 200 day moving average is $126.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.