Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the period. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 655.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 19,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,364,000 after acquiring an additional 16,570 shares during the last quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the second quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Marietta Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the second quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,681,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 158,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

MRK stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $113.67. The stock had a trading volume of 10,102,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,717,050. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $123.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.05. The company has a market capitalization of $287.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.30, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.