Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Boosted by Ceeto Capital Group LLC

Ceeto Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,256 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.3% of Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank lifted 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. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $125.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,467,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,859,123. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $128.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.61. The firm has a market cap of $317.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.