Trust Investment Advisors Makes New $390,000 Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Trust Investment Advisors bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.5% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 131,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23,322 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 31,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,930,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 294,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,497,000 after buying an additional 18,040 shares during the last quarter. Cowa LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.7% during the second quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $854,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America decreased 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $117.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $118.06 and a 200-day moving average of $124.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month 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 posted its 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. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.