PFG Advisors Sells 1,810 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

PFG Advisors trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,810 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after buying an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.70 billion, a PE ratio of 122.70, 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $114.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.