Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 879,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,995,000 after purchasing an additional 11,011 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $283,000. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 14,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the period. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 84,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,215,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $127.72 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $129.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.55. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $323.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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 return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.