Boston Financial Mangement LLC Buys 5,424 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,969 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,424 shares during the quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,185.5% during the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 333,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,385,000 after purchasing an additional 307,780 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 26,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 28,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $118.33. 8,875,366 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,613,569. 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 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.46. The firm has a market cap of $299.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.