B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 13.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,497 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,562 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.20.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance
Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $102.00. 10,118,226 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,285,704. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $258.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $103.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 64.57%.
Merck & Co., Inc. Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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