Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Talbot Financial LLC

Talbot Financial LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,426 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,906 shares during the period. Talbot Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 255,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,618,000 after acquiring an additional 2,278 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 106,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,572,000 after acquiring an additional 65,060 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $708,000. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $523,000. Finally, JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 3,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $1.81 on Monday, hitting $101.06. 3,665,374 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,080,213. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $100.18 and its 200 day moving average is $110.57. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.