Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC Invests $826,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after buying an additional 2,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $117.84. 8,577,276 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,621,607. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.47 billion, a PE ratio of 130.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.09. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America dropped 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.