Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 340,913 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,831 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.4% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $28,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Balefire LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,176.8% in the 2nd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 27,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after buying an additional 26,121 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 3,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 4,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $108.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $112.90. The firm has a market cap of $270.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.03.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.13% 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.