Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Has $2.52 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,389 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,442 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $117.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $117.85 and a 200-day moving average of $124.30. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $296.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business 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 is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.