Dover Advisors LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Dover Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,172 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,838 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.54. The company had a trading volume of 9,108,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,767,140. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.92. The company has a market capitalization of $282.51 billion, a PE ratio of 123.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

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.