Miramar Capital LLC Acquires 844 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Miramar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,293 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.4% of Miramar Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Miramar Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $118.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $118.30 and its 200 day moving average is $124.40. The firm has a market cap 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. 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 prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.