Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,385 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,407 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 199,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,739,000 after purchasing an additional 7,641 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 112,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 8,269 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 521,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,581,000 after buying an additional 34,574 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 51,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of MRK opened at $98.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.