Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,920 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $409,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $237,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $325,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 867,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,360,000 after purchasing an additional 40,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $95.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.69. The firm has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change 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 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.