Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,905 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,116,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 161.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 3,150 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 85,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,534,000 after buying an additional 6,894 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 7,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,548,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $118.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $299.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $118.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.44.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.