Hardy Reed LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hardy Reed LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,628 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the quarter. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 385,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,802,000 after buying an additional 9,305 shares during the last quarter. Thematics Asset Management boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in the third quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 67,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,706,000 after acquiring an additional 11,945 shares in the last quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $829,000. Principal Street Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.9% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 12,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 3,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 13,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $257.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

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.