Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Boosted by Stokes Capital Advisors LLC

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,324 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,649,000 after buying an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,204,000 after buying an additional 34,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $98.00 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $100.01 and its 200-day moving average is $109.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

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.