Cladis Investment Advisory LLC Raises Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cladis Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,527 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Coastwise Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.8% in the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 112,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,743,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the period. Concentric Capital Strategies LP raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 70.8% during the third quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 13,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,439 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 118,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,401,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,260.6% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 381,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,356,000 after purchasing an additional 353,692 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $101.64 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $105.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.77. The stock has a market cap of $257.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. 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. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.