Wallace Capital Management Inc. Sells 362 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wallace Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,163 shares of the company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.3% of Wallace Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Wallace Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Invst LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,330,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $113.69 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $287.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.32, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

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 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.