Virtu Financial LLC Has $264,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 98.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,328 shares of the company's stock after selling 155,572 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third 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 increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third 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. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company's stock worth $125,204,000 after purchasing an additional 34,715 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company's stock worth $27,983,000 after purchasing an additional 57,106 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.72 on Wednesday, reaching $98.34. 11,586,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,324,294. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $248.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $102.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.45.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

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.