Viking Fund Management LLC Purchases 39,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Viking Fund Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 63.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,000 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.5% of Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $933,761,000 after purchasing an additional 422,382 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.89 on Thursday, hitting $96.57. The stock had a trading volume of 11,512,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,553,397. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The business's 50 day moving average is $99.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.11. 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 has a market cap of $244.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business 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 3.36%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.