Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY sells 1,124 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,124 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter, worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter, worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the shares are currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58, based on data from MarketBeat.

Get the latest analysis on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. stock down 0.6%

MRK opened at $117.84 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. it has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $298.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.93, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $119.93 and its 200-day moving average is $125.07. 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 – Get Your Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. In the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. to post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16. This represents a dividend of $3.08 on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) of Merck & Co., Inc. it is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free report)

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a global healthcare company. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health. The pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the fields of oncology, acute hospital care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular and diabetes under the brands Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi and Januvia, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive vaccines for children, adolescents and adults under the names Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, MMR II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23 and Vaqta.

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