9258 Wealth Management LLC Has $2.83 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

9258 Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,831 shares of the company’s stock after selling 593 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st 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 period. Patron Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE MRK traded up $3.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $118.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,253,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,577,010. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $300.97 billion, a PE ratio of 128.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.