Red Spruce Capital LLC Purchases 139 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Red Spruce Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,161 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 2.4% of Red Spruce Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Red Spruce Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NTV Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,893,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 12,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $130.72 on Friday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.24, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to 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. Company 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.