Means Investment CO. Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

by · The Markets Daily

Means Investment CO. Inc. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,677 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $275.32 billion, a PE ratio of 120.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Read Our Latest Report on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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