Edge Wealth Management LLC Sells 450 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Edge Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,561 shares of the company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 2.8% of Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $148,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $11,303,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.84 on Tuesday, reaching $111.53. 9,107,433 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,767,140. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.54 and a 200 day moving average of $122.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.48 billion, a PE ratio of 123.92, a PEG 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

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.