Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 28,668 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

by · The Markets Daily

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 170,684 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,668 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $19,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after buying an additional 3,153,333 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,551,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,477,357,000 after acquiring an additional 212,852 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,135,000 after acquiring an additional 56,644 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $109.73 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 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $114.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.14. The stock has a market cap of $277.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.92, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

View Our Latest Stock Report on MRK

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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