Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA Has $167.45 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 52.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,474,544 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 505,630 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 2.6% of Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $167,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. American Trust increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. American Trust now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 48,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 27,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,009,000 after purchasing an additional 3,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Counterweight Ventures LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $2,268,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $109.73. The company had a trading volume of 8,578,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,768,629. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $114.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.14. 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 has a market cap of $277.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.