Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by General Partner Inc.

General Partner Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,644 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the period. General Partner Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Constitution Capital LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $127.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $324.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.