Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Boosted by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,005 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $101.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $257.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.