Edgestream Partners L.P. Purchases New Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 73,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,026,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $479,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded 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 assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $117.16 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.30. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $296.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio 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.