Moors & Cabot Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,261 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.0% of Moors & Cabot Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $17,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $117.96 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $298.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.