Norden Group LLC Has $36.14 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2,133.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 273,923 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 261,659 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. 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 $125.85 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $129.33 and a 200-day moving average of $124.71. The company has a market cap of $318.75 billion, a PE ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.