Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,300 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $330,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 11,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 146,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,625,000 after buying an additional 8,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 100,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,427,000 after buying an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $279.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company 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 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.