FCG Investment Co Has $1.43 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

FCG Investment Co decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,486 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.1% of FCG Investment Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. FCG Investment Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the first quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. RBA Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,486,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 48,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,386,000 after buying an additional 7,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.7% in the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 25,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after buying an additional 2,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. 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 research report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $125.85. 4,002,054 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,312,443. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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 business had revenue of $15.78 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. 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.