Davis Capital Management Sells 101 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Davis Capital Management lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,420 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the second quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 3,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 298,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,961,000 after acquiring an additional 4,102 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the second quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 104,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,982,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the second quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 39,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,902,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 92,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,506,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $1.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $115.20. 16,562,288 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,345,653. The company has a market capitalization of $291.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $126.76 and a 200 day moving average of $126.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

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.