KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,052 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,583 shares during the quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares in the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the first quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 39,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,167,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 16,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,125,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 11,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the first quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $114.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.45. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. 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.