Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) rose 0.5%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock price (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report ) was up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $116.02 and last traded at $115.53. About 1,880,337 shares were traded during trading, down 78% from the average daily volume of 8,702,378 shares. Shares previously closed at $114.96.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research updated Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus updated Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58, according to MarketBeat.com.

Check out our latest analysis of MRK

Stocks of Merck & Co., Inc. increased by 0.3%

The stock has a market cap of $292.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47, and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Your Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. In the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% year over year. On average, research analysts estimate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announces dividends

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16. This represents a dividend of $3.08 on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc. dividend payout ratio it is currently 342.22%.

Institutional inputs and outputs

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter, worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Itau Unibanco Holding SA bought a new stake in the shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter, worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s shares.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Get a free report)

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a global healthcare company. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health. The pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the fields of oncology, acute hospital 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 vaccines for children, adolescents and adults under the names Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, MMR II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23 and Vaqta.

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