Golden State Equity Partners Buys New Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Golden State Equity Partners bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 28,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,508,000. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 0.7% of Golden State Equity Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sivik Global Healthcare LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $8,155,000. Emprise Bank raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the second quarter. Emprise Bank now owns 11,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Bank OZK raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.0% during the second quarter. Bank OZK now owns 44,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,476,000 after acquiring an additional 5,438 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 189,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Research LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the second quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 5,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $118.33. The stock had a trading volume of 8,875,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,613,569. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $299.71 billion, a PE ratio of 131.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.