Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading 1.4% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) was up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $98.84 and last traded at $97.90. Approximately 1,778,718 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 8,920,827 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.54.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $246.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $107.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.24.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company's stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 88.3% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,555 shares of the company's stock worth $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 64,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,548,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181,694 shares of the company's stock worth $23,975,000 after purchasing an additional 6,040 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute 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 pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.