Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,098 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 26,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,650,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Stolper Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Stolper Co now owns 26,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 3,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on 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, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MRK opened at $100.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $100.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.19. The firm has a market cap of $253.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.