Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,924 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 33,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,169,000 after purchasing an additional 15,026 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 141.7% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 7,939 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 6,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 19,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $108.70 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $275.32 billion, a PE ratio of 120.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.45.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

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.