Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 286 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the third quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 5,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.3% in the third quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 184,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,007,000 after acquiring an additional 9,240 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays dropped 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 research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $108.70 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $275.32 billion, a PE ratio of 120.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.