Rise Advisors LLC Has $458,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Rise Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 491 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610,800 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $1.48 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $101.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,370,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,887,115. 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 market capitalization of $256.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.