Sunpointe LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sunpointe LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,539 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 407 shares during the quarter. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.3% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $106,000. AHL Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $232,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 64,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,508,000 after acquiring an additional 4,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benin Management CORP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 4,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $129.79 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.