Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,897 shares of the company’s stock after selling 524 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.9% of Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 60,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,850,000 after buying an additional 17,913 shares during the period. Curran Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the third quarter. Curran Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the third quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $330,000. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 46,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.69. The firm has a market cap of $279.70 billion, a PE ratio of 122.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

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 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.