Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 38.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,950 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after buying an additional 1,536,474 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.06. The firm has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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