G&S Capital LLC Makes New $1.36 Million Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

G&S Capital LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after buying an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,632,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,566,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,071,000 after purchasing an additional 228,578 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued 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. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $129.79 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a PE ratio of 144.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $129.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. 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.