Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,808 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 100,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,427,000 after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares during the period. Transform Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 99.6% in the third quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 32,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,732,000 after buying an additional 16,287 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 21,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,414,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 89,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,197,000 after buying an additional 14,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stableford Capital II LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 22,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MRK opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $114.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.70, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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 business 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 earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

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.