Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Probity Advisors Inc.

Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,234 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the quarter. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 10,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 42,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,828,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 31,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.2% in the third quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 60,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,850,000 after purchasing an additional 17,913 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $110.42 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.