Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Has $1.63 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,351 shares of the company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the period. Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 12,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,756,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Shakespeare Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,909,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,517,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,229,000 after buying an additional 10,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $125.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a PE ratio of 139.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.