Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Wynn Capital LLC

Wynn Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,179 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.3% of Wynn Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Wynn Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $99.70 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $252.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.13 and a 200-day moving average of $110.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63.

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. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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.