Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Cheviot Value Management LLC

Cheviot Value Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,185 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 2.3% of Cheviot Value Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Cheviot Value Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% during the third quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.8% in the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 112,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,743,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the period. Concentric Capital Strategies LP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 13,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 5,439 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 118,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,401,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $256.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned 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.