Choreo LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 101.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,717 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,716 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the fourth 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 raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 56,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,119,000 after buying an additional 3,119 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 116,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,666,000 after purchasing an additional 4,931 shares during the period. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $114.75 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average of $125.05. The stock has a market cap of $290.64 billion, a PE ratio of 130.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America dropped 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.