Wedmont Private Capital Buys 2,525 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,765 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Constitution Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.7 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $130.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $330.68 billion, a PE ratio of 145.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.25.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.