D.A. Davidson & CO. Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 552,383 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,467 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $46,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,456,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,094,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $106.48 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $107.59. The company has a market capitalization of $264.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $97.36 and a 200-day moving average of $88.07.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 44.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.