Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Boosted by Kingsview Wealth Management LLC

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 345,225 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,441 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.8% of Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $39,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,887,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,425,000 after purchasing an additional 339,724 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 102,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,658,000 after acquiring an additional 7,064 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 6,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the third quarter. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 37,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

MRK stock opened at $99.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.92.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.