Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,806 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.8% of Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

MRK stock opened at $98.00 on Friday. 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 price is $100.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.06. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

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.