Rench Wealth Management Inc. Buys 564 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Rench Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,116 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.7% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $101.38 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $256.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $104.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.80.

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.