Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,893 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,026,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $6,077,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $479,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $118.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.87, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $118.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.