Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Acquires 10,852 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,874 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,852 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.2% of Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $325,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 312,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,657,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174 shares during the last quarter. Granite FO LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $292,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 53,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,644,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,330,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $97.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $247.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.56.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.