Cowa LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cowa LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 25.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Cowa LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,026,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $479,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 29,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.23 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.35. 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 $296.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.26, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

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.