SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 404 shares during the quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased 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 buying an additional 1,536,474 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,696,060,000 after buying an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Citigroup dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $99.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.81. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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