3,331 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Purchased by Fermata Advisors LLC

Fermata Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $445,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,210,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,221,000 after buying an additional 340,073 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 123,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,463,000 after buying an additional 7,598 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $114.55. 5,914,321 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,698,703. The business’s 50 day moving average is $125.41 and its 200-day moving average is $126.29. The company has a market capitalization of $290.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 for the company in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus 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.