Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,718 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. Kennedy Investment Group grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective 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. Societe Generale cut 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, Truist Financial increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $130.72 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.