Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,419 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,855 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.3% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company's stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company's stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $95.60. 7,882,289 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,331,457. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $99.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $241.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend yield of 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s 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.