Clearstead Trust LLC Has $3.50 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Clearstead Trust LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,247 shares of the company’s stock after selling 736 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.9% of Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $724,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,333 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $117.96 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $298.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.07, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $118.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.50. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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