Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 554,562 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,155 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $55,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock worth $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company's stock worth $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,204,000 after purchasing an additional 34,715 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $2.70 on Friday, reaching $98.00. The stock had a trading volume of 15,876,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,556,104. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $100.11 and a 200 day moving average of $110.06. 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 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.