Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 150,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,981 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $19,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $283,000. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 14,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,000 after buying an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 84,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,215,000 after buying an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 29,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,828,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.3 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $4.10 on Monday, reaching $127.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,528,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,565,867. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market cap of $323.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.