Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Raised by Roble Belko & Company Inc

Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 326 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $43,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $454,000. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 256.6% in the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 21,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after acquiring an additional 15,779 shares during the period. Brasada Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.5% during the third quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP now owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,861,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $130.72 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.24, a P/E/G 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.