Mayfair Advisory Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 4,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 49,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 69,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,749 shares during the period. Finally, Gerber LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gerber LLC now owns 3,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.72 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $115.14. 5,249,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,679,515. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $123.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.00. The stock has a market cap of $291.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors 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 yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.