Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th 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 approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial raised 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. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $125.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,002,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,312,443. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.33 and a 200 day moving average of $124.71. The firm has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.