M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Takes $542,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued 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 target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.00 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.