Berkshire Bank Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Berkshire Bank increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,831 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 916 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 19,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 196,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,573,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 73,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,540 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 174,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,327,000 after purchasing an additional 48,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $97.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.56. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $247.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost 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 yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.