Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,756 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 23,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,638,000 after buying an additional 4,137 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 83,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,508,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 12,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $109.74 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $277.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.93, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

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.