The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 145,333 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,152,053 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,333 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.20% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $585,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after purchasing an additional 57,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $101.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $106.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.54.

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. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

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.