Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Trimmed by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 867 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.8% of Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 33,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,855,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 20,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 48,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,541,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,353,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,718,000 after buying an additional 29,422 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.74 on Wednesday, hitting $97.28. The stock had a trading volume of 410,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,914,744. The stock has a market cap of $246.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $108.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.