Virtu Financial LLC Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Virtu Financial LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 98.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 155,572 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $100.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $253.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $102.92 and its 200 day moving average is $114.45.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.