Tlwm Has $1.19 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tlwm grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,339 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.3% of Tlwm’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Tlwm’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $107.82 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $107.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.39. The stock has a market cap of $273.60 billion, a PE ratio of 88.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.52 and a 12 month high of $119.65.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.18) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 5.34%. The business had revenue of $15.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total value of $463,292.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,500,144.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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