LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 410 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 102,673 shares of the company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.4% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $98.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.01 and its 200 day moving average is $109.61. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.