LVW Advisors LLC Has $1.04 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

LVW Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,473 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $2.70 during trading on Monday, reaching $98.00. The stock had a trading volume of 15,879,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

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.