Harmony Asset Management LLC Sells 5,060 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Harmony Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 27.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,060 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $117.17 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.32. The firm has a market cap of $296.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.19, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. 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 results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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