Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 229,953 shares of the company’s stock after selling 765 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $84.82 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $128.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.03 and its 200 day moving average is $85.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.