OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $130.67. 4,945,599 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,277,381. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $330.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.19, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research 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, the stock presently has an average 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.