Manchester Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,154 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,182 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 0.7% of Manchester Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Manchester Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Mittelman Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $471,000. TFG Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 17,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Broderick Brian C raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 182.9% during the 1st quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 21,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,846,000 after buying an additional 13,944 shares during the period. Finally, Hemenway Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 9,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $128.73. The stock had a trading volume of 872,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,359,143. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $326.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.44, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $128.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

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.