Monterey Private Wealth Inc. Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Monterey Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,626 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Monterey Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $129.69 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $128.76 and its 200 day moving average is $123.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

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.