HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 62,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,830,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Chiron Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 219.0% in the third quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC now owns 107,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,052,000 after purchasing an additional 73,700 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $1,428,000. Glenview Trust co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 319,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,851,000 after buying an additional 7,604 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 23,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,447,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $127.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.21, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.66 and a 200-day moving average of $122.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.