Fmr LLC Reduces Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fmr LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,706,304 shares of the company’s stock after selling 946,950 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,644,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 72,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,241,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 61,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,991,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $273,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,152,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $585,067,000 after buying an additional 145,333 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 88.6% in the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 47,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,434,000 after buying an additional 22,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, 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. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $101.19 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $255.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost 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 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

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.