First National Bank of Omaha Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First National Bank of Omaha lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,062 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,744 shares during the quarter. First National Bank of Omaha’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610,800 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 price target on the stock. 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. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $103.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $260.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 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 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 64.57%.

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.