Hi Line Capital Management LLC Has $10.69 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hi Line Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,534 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 3.8% of Hi Line Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Hi Line Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 77.2% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 22,546 shares during the period. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the third quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.1% in the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,000 after acquiring an additional 5,795 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 102,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,639,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the third quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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 reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.1 %

MRK traded up $3.81 during trading on Monday, reaching $127.61. 6,886,611 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,528,716. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.21 billion, a PE ratio of 142.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.