Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Reduces Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 519 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $110.43 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $114.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.70, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.