Tlwm Sells 315 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tlwm reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,417 shares of the company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.3% of Tlwm’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Tlwm’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 60,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,025,000 after buying an additional 6,235 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 9,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,225,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,656,000 after purchasing an additional 31,347 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.8% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 39,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,252,000 after buying an additional 3,894 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 73,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,689,000 after buying an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Societe Generale lowered 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 reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3 %

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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $328.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.27 and a 200 day moving average of $123.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

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.