Greenline Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Greenline Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,579 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Greenline Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during 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 in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,026,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 378.2% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 50,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,467,000 after acquiring an additional 39,735 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $117.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.31. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.