Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 50,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,859,000. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.6% of Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kepos Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Kalos Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. HSBC started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, September 1st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.74.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total transaction of $474,705.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,185 shares in the company, valued at $2,867,745.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $107.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $107.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.52 and a 52-week high of $119.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.18) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 5.34%. The firm had revenue of $15.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 239.34%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.