Team Hewins LLC Acquires 536 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Team Hewins LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,630 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.4% of Team Hewins LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Team Hewins LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.7 %

MRK stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Thursday, hitting $128.18. 2,980,747 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,385,014. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.91, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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 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.