Oxbow Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 395.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,442 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,710 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 25,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,113,000 after buying an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 50.7% during the second quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 522,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,679,000 after purchasing an additional 51,675 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

MRK stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $117.84. 8,577,276 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,621,607. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.97, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.09. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.