Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,146,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,964,000 after buying an additional 35,684 shares in the last quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 157,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,069 shares during the last quarter. Amussen Hunsaker Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Amussen Hunsaker Associates LLC now owns 8,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 213.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 372,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,584,000 after purchasing an additional 253,535 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $114.76 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $116.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.92. 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 $290.66 billion, a PE ratio of 127.51, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors 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 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of 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. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.