Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Vantage Financial Partners LLC

Vantage Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,800 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Vantage Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 15,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Seaview Investment Managers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Seaview Investment Managers LLC now owns 72,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,929,000 after buying an additional 1,829 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 209,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,947,000 after buying an additional 892 shares during the period. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 9,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

MRK stock opened at $114.79 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $290.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $119.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.95. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.