Hengehold Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,762 shares of the company’s stock after selling 907 shares during the quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Societe Generale cut 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 note on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $1.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $129.79. 11,923,877 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,147,509. The company has a market capitalization of $328.73 billion, a PE ratio of 144.21, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.27 and its 200-day moving average is $123.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.