Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Buys 2,949 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,976 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,949 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.6% of Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,026,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 378.2% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 50,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,467,000 after purchasing an additional 39,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $117.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $117.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.31. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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 research report 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.