Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Buys Shares of 89,703 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 89,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,187,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company's stock worth $484,231,000 after buying an additional 2,610,800 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company's stock worth $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $611,924,000 after buying an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of 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, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $102.00. The company had a trading volume of 9,624,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,285,704. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $103.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $258.02 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 posted 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 64.57%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.