Hamilton Wealth LLC Acquires 1,034 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hamilton Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,124 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,390,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $716,221,000 after purchasing an additional 22,492 shares in the last quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.7% in the first quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.5% during the first quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 20,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,571,000 after buying an additional 2,777 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.4% during the first quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 338,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,607,000 after buying an additional 102,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $1.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.20. 16,562,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,345,653. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.45. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.78 billion, a PE ratio of 128.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank boosted 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 note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.