CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Has $5.65 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,732 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,590 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.0% of CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $86,000. American Trust increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. American Trust now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 48,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,285,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 27,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,009,000 after buying an additional 3,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterweight Ventures LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $2,268,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MRK. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” 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 issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE MRK opened at $109.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $114.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.14. The company has a market capitalization 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. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.