Nemes Rush Group LLC Boosts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,396 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,960 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 2.3% of Nemes Rush Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Nemes Rush Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $17,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 14,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP now owns 7,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $775,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,094,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,427,000 after acquiring an additional 48,501 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $113.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $116.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $287.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS 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 given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.