Glenmede Trust Co. NA Buys 415,340 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 60.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,098,241 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 415,340 shares during the quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $124,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $101.62 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $257.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. 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. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.