LPL Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,237,518 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,523 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $290,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $84.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $212.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $128.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.