Keynote Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 24,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,390,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $716,221,000 after purchasing an additional 22,492 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.20. 16,562,288 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,345,653. The company’s 50-day moving average is $126.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $291.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.00, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

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.