Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,569 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,333 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $123.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $313.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

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.