Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 356 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,416 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE MRK opened at $125.85 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a PE ratio of 139.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.70.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.