Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Qsemble Capital Management LP

Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 88.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,854 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,480 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.0% of Qsemble Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 76,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,079,000 after acquiring an additional 53,748 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,594,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $100.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,423,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,985,390. The firm has a market cap of $254.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $107.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.