Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 495,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,817 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.7% of Banco Santander S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $56,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 116,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,244,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,778.4% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 613,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,659,000 after acquiring an additional 597,596 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,858,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,609,000 after purchasing an additional 112,549 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $206,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $97.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.24. The company has a market capitalization of $246.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.