Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,021 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,537,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,007,000 after acquiring an additional 47,005 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 80,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,550,000 after acquiring an additional 19,697 shares during the last quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,445,000 after acquiring an additional 6,382 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,838,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,174,510,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 178,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,973,000 after acquiring an additional 24,402 shares during the last quarter. 74.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $107.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.38, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.52 and a 1-year high of $119.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $107.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.18) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $15.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 239.34%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total transaction of $463,292.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,500,144.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.