Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Matrix Trust Co

Matrix Trust Co raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,768 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the quarter. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $375,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,501,000. Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 6,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Williams Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,803,000. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $99.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $251.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. 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 dividend yield of 3.26%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.