Traynor Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 104.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,976 shares during the quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.8% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 1,050,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,357,000 after purchasing an additional 35,627 shares during the period. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.3% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $95.60. 7,882,289 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,331,457. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $99.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.02. The firm has a market cap of $241.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio 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.