LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 2,330 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,330 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.6% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $724,776,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $279.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.70, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $114.51 and its 200-day moving average is $122.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.