Heritage Wealth Management Inc. Buys New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 27,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,474,000. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.2% of Heritage Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazari Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $61,256,000. Creekside Partners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $254,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 9,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $114.76 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.92. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.