WorthPointe LLC Purchases 466 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WorthPointe LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 28.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,132 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the quarter. WorthPointe LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake 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 valued at $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $356,000. Montchanin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $625,000. Finally, Advisory Resource Group purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $101.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.44 and a 200 day moving average of $117.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $257.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.