Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 38.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,950 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $1,207,000. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.0% during the second quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245 shares of the company's stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the last quarter. Cowa LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.7% during the second quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the company's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 294,806 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,497,000 after purchasing an additional 18,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 31,742 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,930,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.70 on Friday, reaching $98.00. 15,879,862 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $100.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.85. 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. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.