Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC Acquires 252 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,225 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 342,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,705,000 after purchasing an additional 7,965 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 39,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 13,075 shares during the period. LifeWealth Investments LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC now owns 2,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. PUREfi Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 50.7% during the 1st quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 4,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after acquiring an additional 13,891 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $78.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.89. The stock has a market cap of $196.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.