Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC Has $8.13 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.7% of Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $4.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $128.14. The company had a trading volume of 6,359,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,524,498. The company has a market capitalization of $324.55 billion, a PE ratio of 142.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.39. 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 current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS 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 firm 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 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.