Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Simon Quick Advisors LLC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,924 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 51,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 6,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 26,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,330,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,584,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,922,000 after purchasing an additional 634,194 shares during the period. Finally, Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.18 on Wednesday. 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. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.42. The stock has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. This is a positive change 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%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.