Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,852 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $115.33 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.85. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.11 billion, a PE ratio of 128.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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 net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.