Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 247,338 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.9% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $32,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance
MRK opened at $126.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $321.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $128.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.
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