BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cape ANN Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 13,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Walden Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $570,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,496,000. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $127.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $128.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.82. The company has a market cap of $322.98 billion, a PE ratio of 141.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.