Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Invests $896,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 417,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,399,000 after buying an additional 122,590 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,688,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,792,000 after acquiring an additional 44,795 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 243,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,789,000 after purchasing an additional 7,769 shares in the last quarter. Payden & Rygel increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 54.1% in the third quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 185,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,026,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $32,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $99.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $250.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $107.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.92. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.