Roberts Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 6,141 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Roberts Capital Advisors LLC acquired 6,141 shares of Merck & Co., Inc., valued at approximately $551,000, during the first quarter.
• Merck has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with a yield of 3.8%, to be paid on October 7th.
• The company reported a better-than-expected EPS of $2.13 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $2.03.

Roberts Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE MRK opened at $84.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business's fifty day moving average is $81.18 and its 200-day moving average is $83.52.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.

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