Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Acquires 7,544 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,399 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,544 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $103.79 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

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.