First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Has $920,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,099 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 411 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.65 on Wednesday, hitting $102.27. The company had a trading volume of 887,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,095,761. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly 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 3.17%. 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%.

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.