WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 275 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

by · The Cerbat Gem

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 85,370 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 3.4% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 53,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,887,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $933,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 152,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,679,000 after purchasing an additional 34,562 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.6% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 144,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,722,000 after purchasing an additional 53,836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $109.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.79 and a 200-day moving average of $123.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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