Everence Capital Management Inc. Has $7.09 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRKFree Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,830 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $132,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,409,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. IMS Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.5% during the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 14,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syntax Research Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 459.8% in the third quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 12,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.97. 1,544,095 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,734,806. The stock has a market cap of $250.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.10. 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 fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRKGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.13.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MRK

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

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