Mather Group LLC. Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,747 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.08. 9,721,355 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,712,666. The stock has a market cap of $281.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.22, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.52. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm 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 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. 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.