Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.81

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.81 per share on Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th.

Merck & Co., Inc. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Merck & Co., Inc. has a payout ratio of 33.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to earn $9.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.7%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $76.72. 1,055,877 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,918,127. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $80.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $192.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,278 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.