Wealthquest Corp Cuts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wealthquest Corp cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 845 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 15,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after buying an additional 2,815 shares during the period. Accuvest Global Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $1,090,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,146,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,964,000 after buying an additional 35,684 shares in the last quarter. ROI Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,496,000. Finally, Holderness Investments Co. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 47,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,148,000 after acquiring an additional 11,022 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $113.56 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $287.63 billion, a PE ratio of 126.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $116.46 and a 200 day moving average of $123.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.