Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Lifted by BCS Wealth Management

BCS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,814 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 405 shares during the quarter. BCS Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 622,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,637,000 after acquiring an additional 57,198 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 63,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,258,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 77,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,837,000 after buying an additional 4,182 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 28,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,197,000 after buying an additional 1,647 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $109.74 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.60. The stock has a market cap of $277.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.93, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.