City Holding Co. Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

City Holding Co. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,360 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,204,000 after acquiring an additional 34,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $98.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.