Peoples Bank KS Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Peoples Bank KS lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,545 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,475.6% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 35,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 32,832 shares during the period. Lane & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the second quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 3,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 326.3% during the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 88,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,985,000 after buying an additional 67,918 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,193,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,815,000 after buying an additional 51,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 307,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,044,000 after buying an additional 70,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $101.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $255.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.26. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio 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.