Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 0.4%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares shot up 0.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $114.28 and last traded at $114.10. 1,226,300 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 8,668,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $289.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $123.83 and its 200-day moving average is $126.09.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after buying an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.