Oxford Wealth Group LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oxford Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,594,000. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.5% of Oxford Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price 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 issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 9.8 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $12.57 on Tuesday, reaching $115.21. 35,503,592 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,485,705. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $291.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $127.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.