German American Bancorp Inc. Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

German American Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cypress Capital Group raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 45,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $896,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.6% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 417,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,399,000 after acquiring an additional 122,590 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,688,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,792,000 after acquiring an additional 44,795 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 243,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,789,000 after acquiring an additional 7,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $97.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $246.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $107.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.24.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

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.