Darwin Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 278 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the third quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 33,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,855,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 20,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 48,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,541,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,353,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,718,000 after buying an additional 29,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $2,376,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.0 %

MRK stock opened at $100.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $254.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.12. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase 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 3.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.