Prospera Private Wealth LLC Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 651.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,742 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,781 shares during the quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $97.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,857,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,930,065. 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 company has a market capitalization of $246.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $108.09 and a 200 day moving average of $118.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.86.

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.