Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 149 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,704 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.8% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 93,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,550,000 after buying an additional 23,589 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 1,050,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,357,000 after acquiring an additional 35,627 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.3% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.57 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $99.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $244.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.