Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Sells 3,604 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 288,944 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,604 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $35,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after buying an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $114.73 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $290.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.48, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $117.39 and a 200 day moving average of $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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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 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 the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.