Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 1,836,505 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 12.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,836,505 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.63% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $1,759,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company's stock worth $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after acquiring an additional 309,656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7 %

MRK traded up $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.00. 10,105,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,285,695. 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 50-day moving average is $103.41 and its 200 day moving average is $115.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.20.

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.