Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 546,802 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 59,948 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $54,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,517 shares of the company's stock worth $3,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,499 shares during the period. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 8,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Transform Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 35,678 shares of the company's stock worth $3,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,308 shares of the company's stock worth $1,722,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 585,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,235,000 after buying an additional 164,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.72. 13,069,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,479,509. The business's fifty day moving average price is $99.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.20. The company has a market cap of $242.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. 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 3.38%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 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.