Bowman & Co S.C. Sells 560 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bowman & Co S.C. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 560 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.6% of Bowman & Co S.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Bowman & Co S.C.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 8,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.3% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 11,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the first quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.3% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $129.79 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $129.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.96. 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 market capitalization of $328.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.21, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price 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 lifted their price target 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, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.