Monte Financial Group LLC Buys 6,592 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Monte Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,592 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.3% of Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 21,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 22,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 16,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $99.80 and its 200 day moving average is $108.81. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.