Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,767 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,584,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,922,000 after acquiring an additional 634,194 shares during the period. Resources Management Corp CT ADV lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 26,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,330,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 42,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,241,000 after acquiring an additional 7,893 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 33,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 591,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,215,000 after buying an additional 189,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of MRK opened at $115.60 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $117.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.26. The stock has a market cap of $292.79 billion, a PE ratio of 128.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group reduced 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

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.