Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,316 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,478 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

MRK stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $127.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,314,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,379,967. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $128.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.40. The company has a market capitalization of $324.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.41, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.