Isthmus Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 1,814 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after buying an additional 309,656 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,653,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,044,000 after buying an additional 387,420 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after buying an additional 114,080 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.66 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.95. The company has a market cap of $257.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.