Angeles Investment Advisors LLC Has $507,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Angeles Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 497 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. UBS Group decreased 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of 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 assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $115.86 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $118.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $293.45 billion, a PE ratio of 128.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

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.