Integral Investment Advisors Inc. Has $478,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,680 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Integral Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $18,610,000. Wolf Group Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the second quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 18,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Arrow Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.7% during the second quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 10,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $325,000. Finally, Adero Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.2% during the second quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $118.45. 8,876,478 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,613,569. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.46. The firm has a market cap of $300.01 billion, a PE ratio of 131.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.