Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Boosted by Stokes Family Office LLC

Stokes Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,740 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 199.1% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 91,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,066,000 after acquiring an additional 60,867 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 206,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,224,000 after purchasing an additional 42,178 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 91,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,130,000 after purchasing an additional 3,067 shares during the last quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the first quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $1.21 on Friday, reaching $127.76. 6,995,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,405,373. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $128.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.43. 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 firm has a market cap of $323.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

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.