Drive Wealth Management LLC Has $364,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Drive Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 49.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,031 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,867 shares during the quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.82 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $128.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.69.

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.