Morse Asset Management Inc Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,336 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,893 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.3% of Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 87,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,553,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 44,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America cut 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.19, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $117.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.32.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 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.