CCM Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 138,827 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,093 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.5% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 32,832 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 47,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,891,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,100,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,839,000 after purchasing an additional 390,639 shares during the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the second quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 3,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.4% during the second quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 25,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,141,000 after buying an additional 9,648 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $99.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,575,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,373,784. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 1.47 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.10.

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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were 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 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.