Kennedy Capital Management LLC Buys 53,748 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 237.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,385 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,748 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. New Potomac Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. New Potomac Partners LLC now owns 24,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,650,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 4,555 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 17,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the period. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 9.8 %

Shares of MRK traded down $12.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $115.25. 35,466,758 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,485,533. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $128.06 and its 200-day moving average is $126.68.

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 paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.