Financial Counselors Inc. Has $70.33 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 619,319 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,836 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.0% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $70,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $202,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $335,000. Burney Co. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 102,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,511,000 after purchasing an additional 7,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Grove Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Redwood Grove Capital LLC now owns 94,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,403,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.4 %

MRK opened at $103.04 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $260.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.