Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Souders Financial Advisors

Souders Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,826 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

MRK stock opened at $113.56 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $287.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $116.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.97. 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 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 net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company 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 firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

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.