Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Has $1.18 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,536 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 145,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,870,000 after purchasing an additional 16,730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.56 on Thursday, reaching $116.59. 8,199,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,674,124. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $122.61 and its 200-day moving average is $125.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 41.67%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.