Evermay Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,536 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $3,108,366,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $724,776,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $116.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,461,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,567,136. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.