Lmcg Investments LLC Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Lmcg Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,110 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,284 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,084,000 after acquiring an additional 567,900 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $108.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.10 and its 200 day moving average is $90.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $112.90.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.