Asio Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Asio Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,771 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,236 shares during the quarter. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 49,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 65,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 47,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

MRK stock opened at $95.54 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $99.80 and its 200 day moving average is $108.81.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.