Keynote Financial Services LLC Purchases 3,521 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Keynote Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 41.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,987 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,521 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the first quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 70,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,293,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the first quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 25,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,248,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the first quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 11,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $24,934,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $79.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.