State Street Corp Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.6% of State Street Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. State Street Corp owned 4.71% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $13,606,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 309,656 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,653,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,044,000 after acquiring an additional 387,420 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after acquiring an additional 114,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after buying an additional 64,996 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

MRK stock opened at $101.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $256.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 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’s fifty day moving average is $104.71 and its 200 day moving average is $116.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target 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. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.80.

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.