SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,268 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.60 on Friday, reaching $126.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,786,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,857,639. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $320.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.50, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.