Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 7,641 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 199,829 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,641 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $24,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $117.17 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.32. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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. Bank of America cut their price objective on 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. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.