Richardson Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,431 shares of the company’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $117.23 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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