Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 832 shares during the quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $108.58. 8,640,797 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,784,264. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $275.01 billion, a PE ratio of 120.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.67.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.