Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC Buys 179 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 121.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $40,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caxton Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 23,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 853.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 125,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,497,000 after purchasing an additional 112,054 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,831,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,778,000 after buying an additional 42,907 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 93,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,550,000 after buying an additional 23,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,061,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,418,000 after buying an additional 201,721 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned 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, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $114.73 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.20. 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. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.59 billion, a PE ratio of 127.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.