Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,751 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,988,000 after purchasing an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 32,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $84.82 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $128.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.03 and its 200 day moving average is $85.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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.