CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Acquires 2,590 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,732 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.0% of CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE MRK opened at $109.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $277.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.59 and its 200-day moving average is $123.14. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

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.