Viking Fund Management LLC Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

by · The Markets Daily

Viking Fund Management LLC decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during 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 in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second 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. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays dropped 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $109.73. 8,578,442 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,768,629. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $114.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.14. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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