Congress Park Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Congress Park Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Congress Park Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $129.79. The company had a trading volume of 11,923,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,147,509. The stock has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.21, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

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.