Brookstone Capital Management Has $6.62 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brookstone Capital Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,511 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,279 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,374,000 after buying an additional 309,656 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MRK opened at $100.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $255.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

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.