Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Acquires 474 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 101,073 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.1% of Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $6.02 on Friday, hitting $123.80. The company had a trading volume of 49,865,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,541,271. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $129.32 and a 200-day moving average of $124.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on 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. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.