Charter Oak Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Charter Oak Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,595 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $325,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 312,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,657,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174 shares during the period. Granite FO LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 53,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,644,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,330,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim lowered their target price 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. Barclays cut 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. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $97.99 on Tuesday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.56. 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 $247.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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.