Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,582 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $109.71 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.16. The company has a market capitalization of $277.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

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.