Vigilare Wealth Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Vigilare Wealth Management reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,243 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.7% of Vigilare Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Vigilare Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 169,536 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,064,000 after purchasing an additional 9,376 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. 74.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “a-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $107.82 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $107.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.52 and a 52 week high of $119.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.18) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $15.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.44 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 5.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.