Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV Has $2.18 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.20 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 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.