Dunhill Financial LLC Acquires 251 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 882 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,097.2% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 273,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,008,000 after acquiring an additional 250,250 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 41,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.8% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 1,191,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,332,000 after purchasing an additional 115,880 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.8% during the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 205,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,325,000 after purchasing an additional 55,300 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 51,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,811,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $103.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $260.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.