Invst LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Invst LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,382 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Invst LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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. 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $113.56 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $116.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.18, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. 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. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.