Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 59.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 78,935 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,409 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.6% of Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% during the third quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Coastwise Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.8% during the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 112,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,743,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 70.8% in the third quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 13,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,439 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.71 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $257.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.77.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.