Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Integrated Investment Consultants LLC

by · The Markets Daily

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 3,778.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 613,412 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 597,596 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.6% of Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $69,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.9 %

MRK opened at $97.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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