Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Raised by RMR Wealth Builders

RMR Wealth Builders lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,636 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the quarter. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after buying an additional 1,536,474 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $99.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,328,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,561,656. 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 quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.