Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Has $44.33 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 127.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,353 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 218,980 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $44,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $511,000. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the second quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,417,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 1,731 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,706 shares of the company's stock worth $2,316,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 711,817 shares of the company's stock worth $88,678,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased 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. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $102.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,118,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,285,704. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $258.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50 day moving average is $103.26 and its 200-day moving average is $114.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

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. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.