Hedeker Wealth LLC Acquires 150 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hedeker Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,379 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.3% of Hedeker Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Hedeker Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE MRK opened at $125.85 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.70. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.