Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 56,495 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 75.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,424 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,495 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. IRON Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Bennett Associates Wealth Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. Bennett Associates Wealth Management now owns 1,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

MRK stock opened at $101.62 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $106.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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 declared 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 is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

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.