Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,077,746 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,594,276 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,077,746 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.34% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $975,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company's stock worth $1,121,372,000 after purchasing an additional 114,080 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company's stock worth $952,402,000 after buying an additional 64,996 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company's stock valued at $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,517,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,739,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 6,537,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $742,358,000 after acquiring an additional 43,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of 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. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.0 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $2.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $100.41. 10,818,014 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,996,504. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $107.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio 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.