Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC Purchases 278 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,311 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $109.71 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $277.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.