Northwest Bancshares Inc. Has $6.51 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 57,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,561 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.1% of Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 88.3% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 7,765 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 64,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,548,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,975,000 after acquiring an additional 6,040 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $96.54 on Wednesday. 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 $244.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.