McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. Purchases 2,587 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,628 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,587 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $42,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $0.33 on Friday, reaching $109.73. 8,578,442 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,768,629. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $277.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $114.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.