Webster Bank N. A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Webster Bank N. A. reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,942 shares of the company’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,587 shares during the period. Ballew Advisors Inc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc now owns 3,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 49,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 2,590 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 170,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,383,000 after acquiring an additional 28,668 shares during the period. Finally, Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 16,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.33 during midday trading 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 fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $277.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders 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 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was 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.