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

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

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the second quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 4,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 49,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,146,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $8,578,000 after acquiring 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 worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.72 on Tuesday, reaching $115.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,249,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,679,515. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results 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 41.67%. The firm 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 posted ($2.06) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.