Grove Bank & Trust Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,288 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $1,788,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 36,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 3,916 shares in the last quarter. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 181,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,105,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 24,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $98.00 on Monday. 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 quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $100.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.72. The firm has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.