Chemung Canal Trust Co. Has $9.79 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,362 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 2.0% of Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after buying an additional 2,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.31 on Friday, hitting $109.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,662,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,743,041. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $278.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.74. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America cut 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. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

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.