Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 22.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,876 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 888 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,632,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,566,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,071,000 after acquiring an additional 228,578 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %
Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $126.45 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.86. The company has a market capitalization of $320.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on 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 raised 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 assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.
View Our Latest Analysis on MRK
Merck & Co., Inc. Profile
(Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.
