Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,662 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,968 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $113.69 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.95 billion, a PE ratio of 126.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio 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.