Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,805 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 buying an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after buying an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $113.67. 10,102,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,717,050. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.30, 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $123.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.05.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.