Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.74% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $2,135,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Smithfield Trust Co increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 116,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,244,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,778.4% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 613,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,659,000 after acquiring an additional 597,596 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,858,482 shares of the company's stock worth $324,609,000 after purchasing an additional 112,549 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $2.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $100.41. 10,818,014 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,996,504. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $107.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.12. The firm has a market cap of $254.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 3.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their target price 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.