Second Line Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,337 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27,873.3% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 381.6% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 53,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,602,000 after buying an additional 42,254 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 8,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $511,000. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.9% in the second quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 16,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 6,493 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

MRK opened at $101.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $255.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $104.11 and a 200-day moving average of $115.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a 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 given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.