Hilltop Holdings Inc. Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 59.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,935 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,409 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.6% of Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.8% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 35,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,000 after purchasing an additional 10,179 shares in the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 11,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 6,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,178,000 after buying an additional 12,188 shares during the period. Finally, Somerset Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the second quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 6,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.71 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.77. The stock has a market cap of $257.29 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.