Royal Fund Management LLC Has $5.55 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,394 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on 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. BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.00 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.