Westover Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,516 shares of the company’s stock after selling 941 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.4% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $677,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 16,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,756 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $115.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.62. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $293.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.