One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC Has $260,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% during the second quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 522,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,679,000 after buying an additional 51,675 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,622,000 after buying an additional 1,959,152 shares during the last quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $826,000. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the second quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the second quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $117.84. 8,577,276 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,621,607. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $298.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.09.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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 lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

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.