Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 41.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 417,396 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 122,590 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.5% of Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $47,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,688,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,792,000 after purchasing an additional 44,795 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 243,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,789,000 after buying an additional 7,769 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 185,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,026,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 33,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,855,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $97.43 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $107.74 and its 200-day moving average is $118.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

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.