Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,833 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $454,000. Pegasus Partners Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 537.4% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 2,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 147.4% in the 3rd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 128,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,203,000 after purchasing an additional 76,405 shares during the period. Finally, Mendel Money Management boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 8,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price 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. The stock has a market cap of $336.76 billion, a PE 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 quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price 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. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.