Synergy Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 49.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,772 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in 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 buying an additional 4,731,152 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,814,000 after buying an additional 2,449,211 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,818,000 after buying an additional 2,402,700 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. 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 research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $127.72 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $323.49 billion, a PE ratio of 141.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.