Naviter Wealth LLC Has $2.47 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,572 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.66 on Thursday, hitting $109.76. 907,346 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,727,857. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $278.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.69.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business 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 business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

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.