Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,035 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $125.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,002,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,312,443. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Societe Generale downgraded 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 report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price 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. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.