Doheny Asset Management CA Purchases 12,448 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Doheny Asset Management CA boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 83.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,305 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,448 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.6% of Doheny Asset Management CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Doheny Asset Management CA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Andra AP fonden boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.9% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 307,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,044,000 after purchasing an additional 70,800 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,193,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,815,000 after purchasing an additional 51,198 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 326.3% in the 2nd quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 88,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,985,000 after buying an additional 67,918 shares during the period. Lane & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the second quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 3,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Group Foundation grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the second quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 697,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,306,000 after buying an additional 12,758 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. UBS Group decreased 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

MRK opened at $115.41 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. 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 market capitalization of $292.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.95.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.