Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Has $3.22 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,385 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company's stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $96.18. The company had a trading volume of 17,599,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,250,377. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated 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 for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.00.

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.