St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,417 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 731 shares during the quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the third quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the third 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 lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.02. The stock has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.