Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by IFG Advisors LLC

IFG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,708 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. IFG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the third quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 19,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 171.5% during the 3rd quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 257,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,208,000 after buying an additional 162,482 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,697,000. Finally, Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,279,000 after buying an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $108.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $275.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.78, 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial dropped 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.