Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC

Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,734 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.5% of Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7 %

MRK stock opened at $99.17 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $250.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

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.