Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Acquired by CWS Financial Advisors LLC

CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,046 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.21 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $120.30. The company has a market capitalization of $210.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.