Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Stokes Capital Advisors LLC

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 31,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,397 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Front Row Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Kalos Management Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. increased 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 worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 74.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $107.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.38, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.33. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.52 and a 1 year high of $119.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $107.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.28.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 239.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total transaction of $463,292.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,500,144.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.