Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Trimmed by MRA Advisory Group

MRA Advisory Group cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 592 shares during the quarter. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 56,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 99,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,831,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MRK opened at $117.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $298.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.93, a PEG ratio of 1.64 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.