Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Purchases 2,265 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,124 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,265 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.0% of Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $164,118,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 144,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,722,000 after acquiring an additional 53,836 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $89,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 152,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,679,000 after acquiring an additional 34,562 shares during the period. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $933,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

MRK traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $129.37. 4,781,617 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,037,431. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.09. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $133.10. 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 capitalization of $327.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. 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.