Wellington Management Group LLP Has $8.61 Billion Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.5% of Wellington Management Group LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,608,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,606,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd 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 stake 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 valued at $2,016,374,000 after buying an additional 309,656 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,653,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,044,000 after buying an additional 387,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $103.60 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $104.52 and its 200 day moving average is $116.16. The company has a market capitalization of $262.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be 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 is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

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.