Marathon Capital Management Sells 240 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marathon Capital Management lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.0% of Marathon Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Marathon Capital Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,859,000. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 14,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced 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. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded 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 on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $113.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $286.41 billion, a PE ratio of 125.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

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.