Accurate Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,669 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after buying an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after acquiring an additional 34,715 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $99.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. 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 $252.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $100.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.