Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Boosted by Prospector Partners LLC

Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 162,848 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.9% of Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $18,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $101.19 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.54. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. 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 payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

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.