Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 33.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,912 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,431 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company's stock worth $32,636,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $118.30. The stock had a trading volume of 7,914,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,644,050. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business's 50-day moving average price is $118.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.44. The company has a market cap of $299.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.44, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.