Allied Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Allied Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,782 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,289 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 2.7% of Allied Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Allied Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $212,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $9,819,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the first quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 211,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,918,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $237,000. Finally, Holland Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $211,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $130.72 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.09 billion, a PE ratio of 145.24, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.39. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $128.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.