Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 145,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,870,000 after purchasing an additional 16,730 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” 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 given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.45. 8,876,478 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,545,494. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $121.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.61, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.