First PREMIER Bank Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First PREMIER Bank reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 969 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.8% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 93,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,550,000 after acquiring an additional 23,589 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 1,050,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,357,000 after purchasing an additional 35,627 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $241,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9 %

MRK opened at $96.57 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $99.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 research report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed 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 objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.