Worth Asset Management LLC Has $138,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Worth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,192 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 163.1% during the 1st quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 292 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kalos Management Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. 74.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. HSBC began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. StockNews.com cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total transaction of $463,292.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,500,144.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

MRK stock opened at $107.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.38, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $107.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.52 and a fifty-two week high of $119.65.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.18) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $15.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.44 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 5.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 239.34%.

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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.