Precedent Wealth Partners LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,659 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.81.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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. 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.