Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Holdings Raised by Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,971 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,675 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.8% of Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $511,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 73.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,461,000 after buying an additional 7,916 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.2% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 5,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 65,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.1% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MRK traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $101.41. 1,216,709 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,247,670. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $256.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $103.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of 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, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

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.