2,827 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Bought by Earned Wealth Advisors LLC

Earned Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.27 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $199.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

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.