Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,566 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 372 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $273,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,152,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $585,067,000 after buying an additional 145,333 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 88.6% in the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 47,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,434,000 after buying an additional 22,480 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 10,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $101.19 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $106.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.54. The company has a market capitalization of $255.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 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 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 yield of 3.20%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lowered 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

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.