Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,852 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $115.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $292.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.14, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $119.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.85. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.