Procyon Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,805 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,894 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $454,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 26,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after buying an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 86,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,938,000 after buying an additional 5,421 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 4,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 211.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 118,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,223,000 after acquiring an additional 80,547 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3 %

MRK opened at $129.79 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.96. The firm has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

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.