King Luther Capital Management Corp Purchases 44,795 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,688,904 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 44,795 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.07% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $191,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company's stock worth $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 46,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,091,000 after purchasing an additional 13,499 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $794,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865,948 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 164.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 95,525 shares of the company's stock worth $12,605,000 after purchasing an additional 59,441 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $97.43 on Thursday. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $107.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40.

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. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.

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