Bank of Hawaii Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank of Hawaii cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 66,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 76,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,079,000 after purchasing an additional 53,748 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,594,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $99.18 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $250.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.75. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.