Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Sara Bay Financial

Sara Bay Financial raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,884 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.5% of Sara Bay Financial’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sara Bay Financial’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $436,000. Connectus Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 91,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,979,000 after acquiring an additional 21,922 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 221,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,153,000 after purchasing an additional 9,169 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 74,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,125,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,375,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MRK traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $108.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,640,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,784,264. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.67. 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 cap of $275.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.42.

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.