Resources Management Corp CT ADV Acquires 11,341 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,238 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,341 shares during the period. Resources Management Corp CT ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after buying an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after buying an additional 34,715 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after buying an additional 57,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $103.79 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.56. The company has a market capitalization of $262.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.