AE Wealth Management LLC Acquires 19,072 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 407,338 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,072 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $50,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,351,000 after acquiring an additional 3,639 shares in the last quarter. Drexel Morgan & Co. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Drexel Morgan & Co. now owns 29,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,626,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 66,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,192,000 after acquiring an additional 21,816 shares in the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 10,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Promethos Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $99,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2 %

MRK stock opened at $117.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $118.06 and a 200 day moving average of $124.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.92 billion, a PE ratio of 130.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business 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 business posted ($2.06) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.