Emprise Bank Has $757,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Emprise Bank cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,757 shares during the period. Emprise Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $757,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 853,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,931,000 after acquiring an additional 38,405 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 320,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,891,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 14,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 79,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,862,000 after buying an additional 5,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 72,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,245,000 after buying an additional 3,629 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MRK stock traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $100.75. 2,417,392 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,906,375. The firm has a market cap of $254.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.