EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Has $3.35 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,621 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $526,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 317,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,364,000 after acquiring an additional 12,705 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.8% during the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,073,000 after acquiring an additional 2,949 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,344,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,399,000 after acquiring an additional 127,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $117.17 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.31. 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 $296.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target 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. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.