Crewe Advisors LLC Acquires 238 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,348 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after acquiring an additional 57,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $99.18 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $107.11 and a 200-day moving average of $117.83. The company has a market capitalization of $250.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.