BBR Partners LLC Sells 231 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BBR Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the period. BBR Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $103.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $260.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.24.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is 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 (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.