Ridgewood Investments LLC Acquires 5,668 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 424.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,004 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 19,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,349,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,242,000 after buying an additional 20,870 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 4,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 28,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,838,000 after buying an additional 2,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 519,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,689,000 after buying an additional 16,392 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $100.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,479,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,347,462. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.10. The firm has a market cap of $253.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase 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 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

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.