Means Investment CO. Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Means Investment CO. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 711,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,678,000 after acquiring an additional 3,982 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,316,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 1,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, RBA Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,206,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $114.42. 6,176,721 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,701,079. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $123.83 and a 200-day moving average of $126.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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 “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

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.