Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 97,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 757 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. McBroom & Associates LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 5,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E&G Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0 %

MRK opened at $108.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $275.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $114.31 and its 200 day moving average is $122.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

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.