Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Hardy Reed LLC

Hardy Reed LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,628 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 345 shares during the quarter. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.62 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $257.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

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.