UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,107 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first 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. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $119.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.09. The company has a market capitalization of $298.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

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.