ERn Financial LLC Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

ERn Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,163 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $100.72 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $254.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.