Northcape Wealth Management LLC Has $2.76 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,288,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,893,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $116.60. 8,368,151 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,672,231. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.56, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.36 and a 200 day moving average of $125.72. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

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. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.