Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Trimmed by CRA Financial Services LLC

CRA Financial Services LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,691 shares of the company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring 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 Up 0.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,578,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,768,629. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $277.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.16. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.