Oak Asset Management LLC Sells 120 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oak Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,925 shares of the company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the third quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 7,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the third quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 53,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,098,000 after acquiring an additional 3,063 shares during the period. Founders Capital Management grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the third quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 45,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,142,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. IAM Advisory LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 17,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,979,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% in the third quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $108.58. 8,640,797 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,784,264. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.01 billion, a PE ratio of 120.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America dropped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.42.

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.