Marquette Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the third quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the third quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 91,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,393,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 73,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,380,000 after buying an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of Kansas lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 42,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,860,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 22,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,581,000 after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $108.50 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $274.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.56. 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 announced 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. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price 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. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.42.

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.