Fulton Bank N.A. Lowers Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fulton Bank N.A. lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 513 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $99.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,061,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,402,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.26. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $251.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

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. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.