Buckley Wealth Management LLC Sells 4,166 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Buckley Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,166 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 2.5% of Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 1,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 32,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 4,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the first quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 7,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.59% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total value of $463,292.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,500,144.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. HSBC started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $107.82 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.52 and a 52-week high of $119.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $107.87 and its 200 day moving average is $110.39. The company has a market cap of $273.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.38, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.18) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $15.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 5.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 239.34%.

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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.