Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Buys 10,601 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.0%, acquiring an additional 10,601 shares, bringing its total to 49,835 shares valued at $4,473,000.
• Merck's stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold", with a target price of $108.69, according to several analysts who have recently updated their ratings.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with a yield of 3.82%, to be paid on October 7th to shareholders of record on September 15th.

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 27.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,835 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,601 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 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 has a 50 day moving average of $80.03 and a 200 day moving average of $85.30. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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