2,055 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Bought by Creekside Partners

Creekside Partners purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors boosted its position 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 valued at $17,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,069 shares during the period. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 91,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,992,000 after acquiring an additional 4,909 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 532,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,106,000 after purchasing an additional 30,527 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.4 %

MRK stock opened at $112.03 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $115.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.84. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $283.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.