Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC Has $20.62 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,530 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,053 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.4% of Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 692,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,545,000 after acquiring an additional 15,684 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,387,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,381,000 after acquiring an additional 360,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,161,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $114.96 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 capitalization of $291.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.73, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $117.39 and its 200 day moving average is $124.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors 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 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

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.