Perritt Capital Management Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Perritt Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,508 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 3,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 289,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,586,000 after acquiring an additional 10,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Capital Co lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 423.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 30,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after acquiring an additional 24,571 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $114.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $290.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 2.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.