Legend Financial Advisors Inc. Has $49,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 58.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 490 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $101.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,883,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,187,798. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.47. The company has a market capitalization of $255.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.