German American Bancorp Inc. Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

German American Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $97.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $246.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $107.74 and its 200-day moving average is $118.24.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

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.