Hodges Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,324 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,807 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $224,000. Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $2,271,000. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the third quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 38,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,097.2% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 273,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,008,000 after buying an additional 250,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $103.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $104.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.86. The company has a market capitalization of $260.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

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.