Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Grandfield & Dodd LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 305,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.5% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $40,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $129.48. The company had a trading volume of 551,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,356,726. The company has a market cap of $327.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $128.97 and its 200-day moving average is $125.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.