3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Increases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 35,162 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.4% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set 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, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $103.79 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $262.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.