Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 18,685 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 37.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,722 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 18,685 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 309,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.00. 15,879,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $100.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors 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 is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.