Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Fiducient Advisors LLC

Fiducient Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,283 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 233.3% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 549,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,012,000 after acquiring an additional 384,605 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 54,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,808,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the second quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE MRK opened at $117.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.93, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $119.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 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 net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.