Eldred Rock Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Eldred Rock Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,487 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 940 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 6.8% of Eldred Rock Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Eldred Rock Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $130.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $128.85 and a 200-day moving average of $123.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The firm has a market cap of $331.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.