Rehmann Capital Advisory Group Grows Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,857 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after purchasing an additional 34,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after buying an additional 57,106 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

MRK opened at $101.03 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. The firm has a market cap of $255.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 1.49 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $104.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.21%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.