Bremer Bank National Association Purchases 14,267 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bremer Bank National Association grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 38.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,697 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,267 shares during the quarter. Bremer Bank National Association's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company's stock worth $8,608,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $337,450,000 after buying an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,610,800 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company's stock worth $611,924,000 after buying an additional 2,194,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company's stock worth $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $2.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $98.00. 15,879,862 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $100.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a PE 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.67.

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.