Claro Advisors LLC Has $2.01 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,270 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.9% in the second quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 41,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,120,000 after purchasing an additional 15,722 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% during the second quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 179,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,380,000 after acquiring an additional 7,736 shares during the last quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 36,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,518,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 487.3% in the second quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 9,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.3% in the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 45,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,662,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.99 on Friday, reaching $118.45. 8,876,478 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,545,494. The company has a market capitalization of $300.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.41. 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. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

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.