Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Raised by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 316.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,172 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,997 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.4% of XTX Topco Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Bank of America cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. Barclays lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $118.68 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $118.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $300.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.