Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by IVC Wealth Advisors LLC

IVC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,760 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.7% of IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after buying an additional 4,731,152 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,814,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402,700 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $125.85. 4,002,052 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,506,954. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $129.36 and a 200 day moving average of $124.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

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.