Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC Has $3.04 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,015 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 1st 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $111.54 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $282.51 billion, a PE ratio of 123.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $114.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.78.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

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.