Pinion Investment Advisors LLC Sells 464 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,743 shares of the company’s stock after selling 464 shares during the quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $115.86 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $118.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.59. The firm has a market cap of $293.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.66%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.