Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,644,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,786 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $203,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $117.23 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $296.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.