Strong Tower Advisory Services Purchases 3,662 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,153 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,662 shares during the quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $108.66. 2,313,167 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,736,182. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $275.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.70 and a 200 day moving average of $123.27.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.