Xponance Inc. Has $73.22 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 591,394 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 189,196 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 0.7% of Xponance Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $73,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth 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. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 87,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,553,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 44,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.17 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $117.85 and its 200 day moving average is $124.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a PE ratio of 130.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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.