Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 184,316 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,906 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.4% of Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $24,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,288,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the first quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 15,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.76. 7,022,250 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,720,213. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $128.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.57.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.33.

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.