Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Boosted by Marshall Financial Group LLC

Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,346 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after buying an additional 62,047 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $95.54 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization 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. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.69.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.