Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 49.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,217 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610,800 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.85.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

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.