Walden Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Walden Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,814,000 after purchasing an additional 2,449,211 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,818,000 after buying an additional 2,402,700 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE MRK opened at $127.52 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $128.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.82. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. 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 stock 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target 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, Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.