Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by SkyView Investment Advisors LLC

SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,498 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 14,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP now owns 7,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,094,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,427,000 after purchasing an additional 48,501 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $113.69 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $287.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.32, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.