First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $20.34 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,065 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,121 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 88.3% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 7,765 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 64,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,548,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,975,000 after buying an additional 6,040 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $108.09 and a 200 day moving average of $118.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

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.