Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Grandfield & Dodd LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 305,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.5% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $40,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Broderick Brian C grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 182.9% in the first quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 21,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,846,000 after acquiring an additional 13,944 shares during the period. Hemenway Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the first quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 9,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $207,000. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.9% during the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 19,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,596,000 after purchasing an additional 4,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 17,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $129.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 551,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,356,726. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $128.97 and a 200-day moving average of $125.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 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, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.