Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Increased by Hilltop National Bank

Hilltop National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,934 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 32,832 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 47,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,891,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,100,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,839,000 after acquiring an additional 390,639 shares in the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 3,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.4% in the second quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 25,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,141,000 after buying an additional 9,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.98. 2,128,560 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,307,220. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.10. 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. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.