Joule Financial LLC Purchases 318 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Joule Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,814 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sonoma Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sonoma Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 17,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 52,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,923,000 after purchasing an additional 3,715 shares during the last quarter. Well Done LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 2,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.5% during the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on 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. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $109.13. 2,094,616 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,731,932. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $276.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.93, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.60. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.