Kowal Investment Group LLC Acquires 1,326 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,393 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 77.2% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after acquiring an additional 22,546 shares in the last quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 5,795 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 102,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,639,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the third quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. 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 research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $4.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $127.85. The company had a trading volume of 7,354,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,532,462. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.39. The company has a market capitalization of $323.82 billion, a PE ratio of 142.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

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.