Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 2,844 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 418,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,844 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $52,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.67. 10,100,887 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,717,048. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.07. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $287.90 billion, a PE ratio of 125.62, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.