Hilton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,793 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Barclays lowered 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target 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, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.0 %
NYSE:MRK opened at $96.54 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $244.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.39.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.
Merck & Co., Inc. 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.
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