Marino Stram & Associates LLC Has $4.03 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,450 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.9% of Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during 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 period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.38 on Monday, hitting $107.32. The company had a trading volume of 2,927,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,740,810. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $114.31 and a 200-day moving average of $122.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $271.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

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.