Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,315 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,057 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $18,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

MRK stock opened at $127.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.91, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. 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 one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.55.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

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.