Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Sara Bay Financial

Sara Bay Financial raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.5% of Sara Bay Financial’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Sara Bay Financial’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $3,108,366,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $724,776,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MRK traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $114.48. 6,177,022 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,701,079. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.09. The firm has a market cap of $289.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.