Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Lessened by Buckley Wealth Management LLC

Buckley Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.2% of Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 397 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0 %

MRK traded down $1.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $108.70. The company had a trading volume of 9,523,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,769,570. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.39. 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 company has a market cap of $275.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.78, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.