Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,710 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,941,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 73,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,068,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.8% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 35,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,000 after acquiring an additional 10,179 shares during the period. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 7,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $101.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $257.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $105.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.87. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

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.