Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 85,088 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,894 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after buying an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $117.96 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.07, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.