Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,966 shares of the company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.5% of Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,288,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.2 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.20. The company had a trading volume of 16,562,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,345,653. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $126.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.00, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (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 41.67%. 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 earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. 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. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.