Legend Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 305 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 164.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 490 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,288,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $117.43. 5,402,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,620,483. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $297.43 billion, a PE ratio of 130.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.57. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.