Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,829 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,000. Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 12,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 65.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 801 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,552,000 after buying an additional 22,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $109.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,721,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,747,752. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.79 and a 200 day moving average of $123.36. The firm has a market cap of $278.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.