Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 324,981 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,449 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.27 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.