DGS Capital Management LLC Acquires 718 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,491 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,187,000. American Trust raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 70.6% during the third quarter. American Trust now owns 3,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 8,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 324,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,905,000 after purchasing an additional 26,449 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $101.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,105,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,246,592. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $103.41 and its 200-day moving average is $115.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $255.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.20.

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.