Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Acquires 892 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,589 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.7% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $25,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.1 %

MRK stock opened at $115.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $292.31 billion, a PE ratio of 128.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $119.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.