Drive Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Drive Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49% in the first quarter, now owning 4,031 shares valued at $364,000.
• Merck reported $2.22 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a net margin of 27.27%, although revenue decreased by 1.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.82% for shareholders of record.

Drive Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 49.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quilter Plc boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the first quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 32,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 25,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE MRK traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $82.95. 4,238,967 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,820,561. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $208.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.98. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.