Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Sells 1,124 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,124 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

MRK opened at $117.84 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.93, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $119.93 and its 200 day moving average is $125.07. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. 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 2.61%. 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.