Wahed Invest LLC Has $6.95 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wahed Invest LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,199 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,371 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.2% of Wahed Invest LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $10,138,000. Wills Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the third quarter. Wills Financial Group Inc. now owns 30,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,231,000 after buying an additional 2,610,800 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 2,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $103.60 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $104.52 and its 200-day moving average is $116.16. The firm has a market cap of $262.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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 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.