Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,354 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,354 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.8% of Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $524,000. Private Client Services LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 9,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curbstone Financial Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,674,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $109.77. 9,721,325 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,784,917. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.37 and its 200 day moving average is $123.66. The company has a market capitalization of $278.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.97, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Barclays decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.