HB Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 154,176 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,405 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.85. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.