Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 570 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,450 shares of the company’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

MRK traded down $1.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.76. 7,022,250 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,720,213. 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. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.98 and a 200 day moving average of $125.57.

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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 note on Wednesday, March 27th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

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.