Elevate Capital Advisors LLC Invests $726,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Elevate Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% in the second quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 5,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.3% in the second quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 4,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $1,268,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $110.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $275.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.68. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $112.90.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.