Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,317 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 worth $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,610,800 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.54. 12,242,285 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,030,870. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50-day moving average price is $99.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.00.

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.