Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 7,355 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,822,491 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,355 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $349,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $118.59 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $300.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.77, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.