DF Dent & Co. Inc. Has $5.81 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,167 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,704 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $103.07 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $104.52 and a 200-day moving average of $116.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $260.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 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 the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. 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. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.