Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Coastwise Capital Group LLC

Coastwise Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,994 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Coastwise Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,653,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,044,000 after purchasing an additional 387,420 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after buying an additional 64,996 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $101.64 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $257.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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.