Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.00 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.06. The company has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.