Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Increased by Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management

Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 26.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,942 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.9% during the first quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 12,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 6,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $268,000. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,156,000 after buying an additional 4,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 50.2% in the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 28,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,760,000 after buying an additional 9,452 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0 %

MRK opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $275.32 billion, a PE ratio of 120.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $114.31 and its 200-day moving average is $122.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

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.