Maia Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 3,545 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Maia Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded down $1.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.07. 229,906 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,632,744. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $286.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.10, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $124.83 and a 200 day moving average of $126.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business 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 41.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.