Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Has $22.82 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 229,338 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,189 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 309,656 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE MRK opened at $96.18 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $243.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $99.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.42. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.