Moran Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Moran Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 260,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 93,556 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.9% of Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $29,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Barclays reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $97.87. 1,544,869 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,919,787. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

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.