Profund Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Profund Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,104 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,858 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.17 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a PE ratio of 130.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.