Drive Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,148 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,376 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.45. 8,876,478 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,545,494. The company has a market cap of $300.01 billion, a PE ratio of 131.61, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $121.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid 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 currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.