Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $2,135,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,622,000 after buying an additional 1,959,152 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $97.57 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $107.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.24. 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 stock has a market cap of $246.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

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.