Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,893 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 557 shares during the quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays decreased their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $118.68 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $118.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.