Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,928 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the period. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $454,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 77.2% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,328,000 after buying an additional 22,546 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $1,421,000. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the third quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.1% in the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,000 after acquiring an additional 5,795 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.3 %

MRK opened at $127.90 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $323.95 billion, a PE ratio of 142.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.32 and its 200-day moving average is $124.39. 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 issued 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

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.