Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 281 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Grimes & Company Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 281 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $6.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $123.80. 57,055,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,215,418. 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 cap of $313.56 billion, a PE ratio of 137.56, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.27. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale cut 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. Truist Financial boosted 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, Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.