Grassi Investment Management Buys 202 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Grassi Investment Management lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,714 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $29,501,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 234,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,973,000 after buying an additional 3,127 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $767,000. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the second quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC now owns 71,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,909,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,969,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,616,000 after buying an additional 701,481 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MRK opened at $100.94 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $100.16 and its 200 day moving average is $110.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

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.