Avanza Fonder AB Acquires New Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 273,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,203,000. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.8% of Avanza Fonder AB's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $484,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610,800 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,194,463 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,879,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $100.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.