JB Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

JB Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 100,895 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.6% of JB Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. JB Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Chicago Capital LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 25,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,518,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Lynch Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Lynch Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 18,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after buying an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobsen Capital Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $98.80 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.67. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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 has a market capitalization of $249.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.