Annex Advisory Services LLC Has $32.17 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 243,786 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,430 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.1% of Annex Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $32,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $132.96 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $129.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.90. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $336.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 147.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm 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 revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective 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 boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.