Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,103 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $409,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $237,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $325,000. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 867,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,360,000 after acquiring an additional 40,668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $95.54 on Monday. 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. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.69. The stock has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.