Kozak & Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kozak & Associates Inc. cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,804 shares of the company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $109.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.93, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $114.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.