Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV Buys 90 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,413 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.3% of Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $127.99 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $324.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.21, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. 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 report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.