Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,811 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,131 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,207,000. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.0% during the second quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,887,000 after buying an additional 1,870 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the company's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 294,806 shares of the company's stock worth $36,497,000 after purchasing an additional 18,040 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 31,742 shares of the company's stock worth $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

MRK traded down $2.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.00. 15,879,862 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.85.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.