Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Fermata Advisors LLC

Fermata Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 45.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,901 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 30,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,057,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares in the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $365,000. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 45,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,483,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 6,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.12. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.