Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,861 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 54,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 21,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 6,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE MRK traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $116.27. 6,515,868 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,659,112. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $294.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.19, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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. The company 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 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.