Meridian Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 87,601 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after acquiring an additional 57,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $99.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $252.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.44 and a 200-day moving average of $118.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim decreased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

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.