Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 41.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,611 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter, valued at approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter, valued at approximately $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter, worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter in the amount of $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter, valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the shares are owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Changes in Analyst Ratings

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wolfe Research updated Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Read the latest stock analysis on MRK

Stocks of Merck & Co., Inc. increased by 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $113.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $287.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.30, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty-day simple moving average is $123.83, and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.05. 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 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue increased by 7.1% year-on-year. In the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announces dividends

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16. This represents a dividend of $3.08 on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc. dividend payout ratio it is currently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Free Report)

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a global healthcare company. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health. The pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the fields of oncology, acute hospital care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular and diabetes under the brands Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi and Januvia, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive vaccines for children, adolescents and adults under the names Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, MMR II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23 and Vaqta.

Further reading

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