Core Wealth Partners LLC Has $1.13 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Core Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,550 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.9% of Core Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Core Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,814,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

MRK traded down $1.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $125.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,002,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,312,443. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $129.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Societe Generale cut 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 Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.