Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,634,014 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,142 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.6% of Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $449,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $0.81 on Monday, hitting $114.48. 6,177,022 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,701,079. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $123.49 and its 200 day moving average is $126.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share 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 41.67%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.