MV Capital Management Inc. Buys 17,210 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 189.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,298 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,210 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.72. 5,644,851 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,542,703. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.55. The firm has a market cap of $323.49 billion, a PE ratio of 141.91, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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