Denver PWM LLC Buys Shares of 514 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,334,000. Finally, Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of MRK opened at $118.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $300.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.77, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $120.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company 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 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.