Following the announcement of a dividend on Thursday, shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) reached a new high for the past 52 weeks. Before reaching its final price of $110.65, the share price had peaked at $110.98 on a volume of 70,804 units. Before that, the stock had ended the day at $110.12 a share. The dividend that was just proclaimed will be distributed on Monday, January 9. On Thursday, December 15, shareholders of record will be eligible to receive $0.73 dividend payments per share. This translates into a dividend payment of $2.92 per year and a yield of 2.64%. The date that constitutes the ex-dividend date for this dividend is December 14. In addition, the prior quarterly dividend of $0.69 paid out by Merck & Co., Inc. has been enhanced. As a result, a 45.92% payout ratio can be seen for Merck & Co., Inc.
On Thursday, October 27, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) disseminated its most recent quarterly results report to the public. The company reported a profit of $1.85 per share for the third quarter, which was $0.18 more than the consensus forecast of $1.67 per share among analysts. The revenue for the quarter came in at $14.96 billion, which was significantly higher than the $14.05 billion analysts had predicted it would be. The return on equity for Merck & Co., Inc. was 46.57%, and the net margin for the company was 25.88%. The revenue of Merck & Co., Inc. increased by 13.7% as compared to the same quarter of the previous year. During the same period as the previous year, the corporation generated $1.75 per share earnings. According to the forecasts of market research analysts, Merck & Co., Inc. will bring in 7.38 cents per share of profit this year.
The company’s moving average over the past 50 days is $96.19, and its moving average over the past 200 days is $92.14. The debt-to-equity ratio comes in at 0.64, the current ratio comes in at 1.46, and the quick ratio comes in at 1.22. The firm’s market capitalization is currently sitting at $280.54 billion, while its PE ratio stands at 18.32, its P/E/G ratio sits at 1.45, and its beta stands at 0.38.
There have been other analysts who have shared their thoughts on the stock. Truist Financial gave Merck & Co., Inc. a “buy” rating in a research note published on Friday, October 28. The firm boosted its price objective on the stock from $103.00 to $106.00 and announced the change. In a research note published on October 12, StockNews.com began providing coverage on Merck & Co., Inc.’s common shares. They recommended the firm as a “strong buy.” Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. shares from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note published on Friday, October 28. SVB Leerink increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. shares from $110.00 to $112.00 and rated the stock “outperform” in a report issued on Friday, October 28. In a report published on Wednesday, September 14, Berenberg Bank raised their price objective for Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $100.00 and upgraded the company’s rating from “hold” to “buy.” Fourteen market watchers recommend buying the stock, but only two of them recommend it strongly. According to the data from Bloomberg.com, the current consensus recommendation for Merck & Co., Inc. is a “Moderate Buy,” and the consensus price objective is $106.00.
On Wednesday, November 9, an insider at Merck & Co., Inc. named Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 1,795 shares. Other news regarding Merck & Co., Inc. can be found here. At an average price of $103.21, the shares were able to bring in a total of $185,261.95 when sold. Following the completion of the transaction, the corporate insider will now own 16,731 shares of the company’s stock, which have a value of approximately $1,726,806.51. This page contains a legal file submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the transaction, which may be seen here. In other developments about the company, Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen sold 1,795 shares of the company’s stock on Wednesday, November 9. The shares were sold for 185,261.95 dollars at an average price of $103.21.The corporate insider currently has 16,731 shares of stock, which are valued at 1,726,806.51 dollars. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed by clicking on the following link: On November 10, Executive Vice President Steven Mizell sold 15,000 of the company’s shares of stock. At an average price of $101.42, the shares could fetch a total of $1,521,300.00 when sold. The current value of the executive vice president’s stock holdings, which come to around $3,260,044.48, is 32,144 shares of the company’s common stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found at this location. During the last quarter, business insiders offloaded 1,081,815 shares of company stock for a total value of $108,575,433. A total of 0.29% of the company’s shares are held privately.
Hedge funds have recently been active in the company’s stock market, buying and selling shares. During the last three months of 2018, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7%. Following the acquisition of an additional 99 shares during the most recent fiscal quarter, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,251 shares of the company’s stock. The value of these shares is $1,227,000. Cortland Associates Inc. (MO) grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the third quarter of the current fiscal year. After making an additional purchase of 101 shares during the most recent quarter, Cortland Associates Inc. (MO) now holds 6,730 shares of the company’s stock, which has a value of $580,000. Family Management Corporation boosted its Merck & Co., Inc. holdings by 3.4% during the third quarter of 2018. After making purchases totaling 3,103 shares during the preceding quarter, Family Management Corp. now holds 3,103 shares of the company’s stock, which have a combined value of $267,000. During the past three months, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC has increased the percentage of Merck & Co., Inc. stock it owns by 1.1%. Following the acquisition of 106 more shares during the preceding quarter, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now holds 10,027 shares of the company’s stock, which has a value of $907,000. In the final step of this process, Janney Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Following the acquisition of 109 more shares during the preceding quarter, Janney Capital Management LLC now holds 14,239 shares of the company’s stock, which has a value of $1,226,000. The company’s stock is owned by hedge funds and other types of institutional investors to 73.33%.
