Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $879,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7 %

MRK opened at $99.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.83. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results 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. 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 last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio 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.