Blair William & Co. IL Has $123.65 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 35.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 998,771 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 260,742 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $123,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MRK traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $118.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,605,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,660,333. The firm has a market cap of $300.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $118.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.44.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend 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 is currently 342.22%.

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.