Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by LVW Advisors LLC

LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,820 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE MRK opened at $109.71 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $277.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.