Stolper Co Has $2.94 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stolper Co cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 399 shares during the quarter. Stolper Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $108.23 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley increased 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 research report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.