Tarbox Family Office Inc. Buys 1,180 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tarbox Family Office Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 40.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,083 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. Tarbox Family Office Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,333 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,566,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,071,000 after acquiring an additional 228,578 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. 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 report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $1.71 on Thursday, hitting $129.79. The stock had a trading volume of 11,923,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,147,509. The business’s fifty day moving average is $129.27 and its 200 day moving average is $123.96. The company has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a PE ratio of 144.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.