Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Increased by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 41.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,970 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,927 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lynch & Associates IN boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 92,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,504,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,926,000. Counterweight Ventures LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the second quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 20,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 233.3% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 549,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,012,000 after purchasing an additional 384,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $117.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.93, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average of $125.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.