Marshall Financial Group LLC Has $2.36 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 655.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,097 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,570 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MRK traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $113.67. The stock had a trading volume of 10,102,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,717,050. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $287.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.