Legacy Private Trust Co. Has $2.84 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,525 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares during the quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third 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 period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,204,000 after buying an additional 34,715 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.84. 8,635,480 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,372,226. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.