Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. Has $1.88 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,220 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $115.86 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $118.78 and its 200 day moving average is $124.57. The firm has a market cap of $293.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.73, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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