Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Has $2.08 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,835 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,073 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.0% of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $2.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $118.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,057,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,558,316. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $120.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.20. 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. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $299.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.