Telos Capital Management Inc. Has $1.71 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,671 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 41,850,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,643,267,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,816 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after purchasing an additional 39,289,404 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,859,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,074,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,842 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, April 5th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $125.13. 3,773,458 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,313,319. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.24 and a 200 day moving average of $114.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $316.96 billion, a PE ratio of 893.29, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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 under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.