WESPAC Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WESPAC Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,473 shares of the company’s stock after selling 734 shares during the quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the third quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 27,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,102,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. CMG Global Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% in the third quarter. CMG Global Holdings LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 345,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,204,000 after buying an additional 55,441 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,887,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,425,000 after acquiring an additional 339,724 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $99.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.83. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $250.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price 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, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

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.