Apeiron RIA LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Apeiron RIA LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,123 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 782 shares during the quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,606,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $96.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $99.85 and a 200-day moving average of $109.11. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was 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 is 67.92%.

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.