ETF Store Inc. Has $290,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

ETF Store Inc. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 38.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,341 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,486 shares during the period. ETF Store Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 16,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 79.2% during the 2nd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 4,371 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 546,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,330,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,023,000 after acquiring an additional 731,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America dropped 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective 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. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MRK opened at $118.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $120.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $301.23 billion, a PE ratio of 131.77, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business 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 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

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.