Procyon Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,267 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $188,000. Twin Focus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $301,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,551,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,477,357,000 after purchasing an additional 212,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $109.85 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $114.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.08. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $278.23 billion, a PE ratio of 121.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

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. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

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.