Sivia Capital Partners LLC Sells 614 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,484 shares of the company’s stock after selling 614 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.5% of Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $803,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $445,000. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcataur Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $119.93 and its 200 day moving average is $125.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.54 billion, a PE ratio of 130.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results 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 firm 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 40.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders 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 2.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

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.